Balancing The Federal Budget Process

Overspending is a pertinent problem facing the lawmakers in Congress. In 2012 discretionary spending reached $1.3 trillion and mandatory spending $2 trillion, while only bringing in $2.5 trillion in revenue. Since the turn of the century back in 2000, non-mandatory spending by the government has topped out a whopping $16.1 trillion just in the past 13 years (Boccia, Frasser & Goff 2013). This persistent overspending on programs and services that are not necessary to the functionality of the country is what is causing the deficit to rise year after year. To remedy this issue the government must either increase the revenue it brings in through taxes and trade or reduce the amount of money it spend or perhaps even both. In 2012 thirty-one cents of every dollar that Washington spent was borrowed (Boccia, Frasser & Goff 2013). Most of which went to large programs such as Social Security and Medicare and if these large, growing programs, or just the budget in general, do not undergo financial reform it could spell disaster for the economy and fiscal state of the nation.

“The federal budget is the yearly plan for how the US government will spend the money it takes from taxes and borrowing.” After thoroughly analyzing the federal budget from 2012, it is unquestionably evident that a majority of the money is being put into a few major categories, leaving room for the rest of the smaller categories to be financially neglected. Is this fair? It seems that the money could be more fairly distributed, and that there is room for cuts in some of the larger categories, to improve the littler ones. In each of the three budget clusters, the US Government should make adjustments in the way it is distributing money; changes involving the big five, the middle

The federal budget deficit is a much discussed and little understood subject in American politics. The current recession has dramatically decreased tax revenues, driving the United States federal government to increase spending in an attempt to stabilize the economy. As a result the current federal deficit is at over $1.3 trillion dollars. This is approximately $47,754 per U.S. citizen or $137,552 per U. S. taxpayer (U.S. Debt Clock: Real Time, 2012).

Many United States' citizens are unaware of the country's current financial state. Many assume that one of the world's wealthiest countries could never be in debt. This is untrue however, and, in fact, the country with the greatest income per capita is in major debt. This study will examine possible solutions to reducing the United States' national budget deficit.

“To budget is to fight over money and the things money buys” (Document A). The federal budget is adjusted every year and has to follow certain criteria set forward by the Preamble to the Constitution. The Preamble sets five goals that the budget must fulfill, these goals are: to establish justice, to insure domestic tranquility, to provide for the common defence, to promote the general welfare, and to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our prosperity. Furthermore, it is difficult to decide what clusters of the federal budget to allocate money to in order to meet the five goals of the Preamble which are “The Big Five”, “The Middle Five”, and “The Little Guys.” In each of the three budget clusters,

As we discussed and read about this week in our class, the topic of the US Budget and how, why and what should we do about it has become a topic with many views and opinions. The United States of America currently holds over 16 Trillion dollars in debt based on our governments spending practices for the last ten years. Two wars, numerous fiscal collapses and cliffs, a bubble popped housing market, looming medical care costs from a socialized healthcare law and a recession have caused the government to acquire enormous amounts of debt. This debt with caused by what seems to be from irresponsible spending on both the Legislative and the Executive Branches have done nothing to lessen this deficit. One idea that has been discussed not only in

This section illustrates how a reduction in spending could eliminate the federal budget deficit over 10 years. It shows projections of revenues and spending as a share of GDP based on the March 2011 Congressional Budget Office estimates. My projections for revenues assume the extension of the 2001 and 2003 income tax cuts, extension of alternative minimum tax relief, and repeal of the tax increases

The federal budget is known as the infamous monetary tank from which money is distributed to various programs. Why does the federal budget plan cause such uproar of approval or disapproval when it is proposed by the President every February? The money utilized every fiscal year, which runs from October 1st of each year until the end of September of the following year, belongs to the people. The money is raised through income taxes, excise taxes (taxes on goods) and social insurance payroll taxes. Presently, the public is worried about how they will receive a fair share of money appropriations in such a slow economy. The federal deficit has returned, which means that the government’s spending

All the people in the United States are effected by the fiscal policies. Team C will address the how and why the U.S. budget deficits, budget surpluses and debt effect different individuals and institutions. There are a wide array of individuals effected by fiscal policy, which include tax payers, future Social Security and Medicaid users will be effected. The unemployed individuals and University of Phoenix students will be effected by fiscal policy. The U.S. financial reputation , an exporter, and importer, and effects of the GDP will also be covered about the effects of the U.S fiscal policy.

Our National debt has been increasing at an alarming rate with no sign of it slowing down. The debt limit has been raised 74 times in the last 50 years and 10 times in the last 10 (Gale 11). The National debt has accumulated over $18 trillion. In a data collected by Times Magazine, it showed that if the cost of four years of public college tuition, room and board in the U.S. is $60,088 and our debt could cover four years of public college for every American under the age of 75. This is without a problem, and the federal budget deficit is becoming the focus of many Washington debate, the idea of a balanced budget amendment added to the constitution is returning

According to Professor Allen Schick, “In a fundamental sense, the government is what it spends” (Document A). There is a great deal of planning that goes into the federal budget each year, but yet it’s still not enough to satisfy every need. The truth is that however much money or planning that goes into the budget, people will still feel that we are spending too much in some areas and not enough in others. It is the government’s responsibility to put in place a budget that satisfies the needs of the people and follows the preamble to the Constitution. Many people believe that we are not “slicing the pie correctly” and that the budget needs to be looked over and revised. In each of the three budget clusters, the US government should make minor

The first step to creating the federal government budget is the President submits a budget request to Congress. The executive branch gets requests from the federal agencies saying that different things and projects need money or that they don’t need money. So basically they discuss what project is more important. Yet these are all only proposals so they can either be accepted or denied depending on what the people think the country needs.

Police departments across the United States are spending a lot more money today on policing than they did 15 years ago, as demands have changed on what is required to effectively run an organization. Governments have put in place various budgeting systems that generally revolve around the adoption of a fiscal calendar which begins on the date new annual budget laws become effective. When the time comes to prepare for yearly budgets, most agencies run into issues due to lack of funding as they are asked “to do more with less” (Hess, Orthmann, Ladue, 2016, pg.483). The budgeting process from start to finish is not an easy task as many consider it to be one of the most challenging and stressful times during the year. Even though the process

For as long as Americans can remember there has always been a federal deficit. In fact, the only time in American history when there was no federal debt was under president Andrew Jackson, and it only lasted a single year(Wall Street Journal). The federal government never managed to pay off the debt again, although some administrations, like Coolidge’s and Clinton’s, have managed to run brief surpluses(Wall Street Journal). Yet today there seems to be no limit on the debt and deficit spending, and a key question has been pressed into the forefront of politics and fiscal policy, “is

Throughout most of the country’s history, the United States’ federal government maintained a reasonable level of national debt. For example, the total national debt in 1981 was $998 billion. Since then, however, the government has generated significant budget deficits, and the level of debt has risen to $16.7 trillion in 2013 (Calleo, 39). Budget deficits are caused