Here’s How to Cut the Budget

On January 16, 1957, the people of this country awoke with a rude shock. Lulled to sleep by four years of budgets reduced from the Korean War high of President Truman, and further lulled by two years of balanced budgets, they were ill-prepared for the largest peacetime budget in history. I shared with them their surprise. This third year in a row of balanced budgets was a noteworthy Eisenhower accomplishment but I thought it ought to be accompanied by some reduction in spending to go along with the outstanding progress along that line which the President had made in 1953, 1954 and 1955.

In my experience of twenty-one years on the Senate Appropriations Committee I have seen showers for economy before, but they have soon evaporated when the hot sun of the spending lobbies has been brought to bear. However, I felt that the largest peacetime budget in history—71 billion 800 million dollars—called for action and I knew that for action to be effective the public must be thoroughly aroused.

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On January 16, 1957, the people of this country awoke with a rude shock. Lulled to sleep by four years of budgets reduced from the Korean War high of President Truman, and further lulled by two years of balanced budgets, they were ill-prepared for the largest peacetime budget in history. I shared with them their surprise. This third year in a row of balanced budgets was a noteworthy Eisenhower accomplishment but I thought it ought to be accompanied by some reduction in spending to go along with the outstanding progress along that line which the President had made in 1953, 1954 and 1955.

In my experience of twenty-one years on the Senate Appropriations Committee I have seen showers for economy before, but they have soon evaporated when the hot sun of the spending lobbies has been brought to bear. However, I felt that the largest peacetime budget in history—71 billion 800 million dollars—called for action and I knew that for action to be effective the public must be thoroughly aroused.