National Affairs: Red Moons, Red Ink

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Looking back on last spring's great cut-that-budget fracas, an economy-minded member of Congress might well wonder whether it was just a dream. Despite all the battle cries that rang out on Capitol Hill, despite all the warlike swings of economy axes, that same federal budget now looms a cool billion bigger than President Eisenhower's year-ago estimate of $71.8 billion.

Last week, before submitting his new 1959 budget, the President asked Congress for an extra $1.3 billion to spend in fiscal 1958 for speeding up ballistic-missile and missile-detection programs, dispersing Strategic Air Command bases. This new request, which Congress is sure to grant with no audible outcry, brought the spending estimate for the year to $72.8 billion.

Along with a $1.2 billion sag in estimated federal income for fiscal 1958, the extra outgo for defense erased the black ink to which the Administration pointed with pride a year ago. Instead of the estimated $1.8 billion surplus, the Administration foresees a $400 million deficit—red ink brought on by Red Sputniks.