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Show Says U. S. Air Force Is "Hopelessly Wanting" j After five months of hearings, the President's Air Policy Commission, Com-mission, composed of five. members, mem-bers, recommends a substantial increase in the Air Force, asserting assert-ing that January 1, 1953, would be the ultimate date on which the United States might consider itself relatively secure against atomic attack. Up to this "A Day," when the nation is relatively free from the danger of sustained attack, the Commission found the Air Force inadequate and said that it "is hopelessly wanting" in respect re-spect to the time when a serious danger of atomic attack will exist. ex-ist. The Commission recommends that the Government spend, in. 1948, $1,300,000,000 in addition to $2,050,000,000 q u'r re n 1 1 y scheduled' and that, in the calendar calen-dar yearT 1949, the total be increased in-creased another $1,300,000,000. Suggesting that our whole defense de-fense program be reviewed at the hd Pf 1Q40, the Commission recommended re-commended that, if no changes fo the better occurred in world affairs, the military program of the nation be increased progressively. progres-sively. By 1932, it added, the Air Force shpuld have seventy active ac-tive groups, supported by large National Guard and Air Reserve armadas a total of mo.re than 12,000 first-line plans, plus more than 8,000 held in reserve. Veterans Cost Nation One-Seventh Of Income Expenditures of .the Veterans Administration were $7,805,355,-201 $7,805,355,-201 in the fiscal year that ended last June 30th. This compares with $639,126,697 in 1940. It might be interesting to point out where the immense sum goes. Payment on death claims under un-der National Service Life Insurance Insur-ance vas" $256,732,165; vocation al rehabilitation of 211,800 ' disabled dis-abled veterans cost $190,103,-992; $190,103,-992; education and job training for 1,862,633 veterans cost $1,-534,683,008; $1,-534,683,008; for subsistence allowances, al-lowances, and $569,841,035 for tuition and equipment; readjustment readjust-ment allowance, sometimes termed term-ed 52-20 pay, cost $1,447,916,-418; $1,447,916,-418; and compensation and pension pen-sion benefits to 2,354,297 living war veterans cost $1,365,399,805, plus $366,572,976 paid to dependents depen-dents of 566,468 dead veterans. These. items are interesting. They do not cover all of the payments pay-ments made by the Veterans Administration Ad-ministration but give the reader a fair idea of where the Government Govern-ment is j spending about one-seventh one-seventh of its present income. |