National Trends

Budgetary Elephantiasis

One way of telling whether the Eisenhower Administration has lived up to the 1952 campaign promises to “reverse the trend toward statism” is to consult the spokesmen for the New Republicanism: you are sure to be told that it has, and you will probably be referred to the “philosophical differences” between the Fair Deal and the Eisenhower Administration to prove the point. Another way is to consult the record. There are a number of yardsticks by which the record can be measured, but the one that will get you to the heart of the matter fastest, with maximum justice to all concerned, is this: How much of the people’s wealth is expropriated and distributed by the State under the Eisenhower Administration, as compared with what was done under the Truman Administration—and for what purposes? The President’s Budget Message to Congress for the fiscal year 1958 is worth examining from this point of view.

LB

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L. Brent Bozell Jr.

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Budgetary Elephantiasis

One way of telling whether the Eisenhower Administration has lived up to the 1952 campaign promises to “reverse the trend toward statism” is to consult the spokesmen for the New Republicanism: you are sure to be told that it has, and you will probably be referred to the “philosophical differences” between the Fair Deal and the Eisenhower Administration to prove the point. Another way is to consult the record. There are a number of yardsticks by which the record can be measured, but the one that will get you to the heart of the matter fastest, with maximum justice to all concerned, is this: How much of the people’s wealth is expropriated and distributed by the State under the Eisenhower Administration, as compared with what was done under the Truman Administration—and for what purposes? The President’s Budget Message to Congress for the fiscal year 1958 is worth examining from this point of view.