Questions on Revenue and Expenditure for the Federal Government

“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 United States borrows money from individuals that have bought Treasury Bills, Notes, Bonds, and United States Savings Bonds. The U.S. government also borrows money by issuing Treasury securities. These securities finance expenditures that exceed its receipts, and are legal under the authority of the Second Liberty Bond Act. The government's primary source of income is through taxes paid by its citizens. Supposedly, money is spent on programs that government officials consider necessary to ensure the best quality of life for all (or at least the majority) of the nation's citizens. The combination of these amounts is what makes up the national

If our government didn’t spend anything would we have any type increase in our economy? I do not thing we would. Who would pay for the necessity things we need in order to thrive as a country. How would we keep up with our transportation system, invest in our future or keep us from totalitarianism? We have to have some type involvement from the government. I the 2016 election outcome came due to the fact that a lot of people felt like President Obama and his administration implicated too many policies that increase government spending. Such policies geared towards health care reform and income inequality. All in which increased taxes for each individual. I think a lot of people feel like the last eight years of government spending cost the tax payers a lot of unnecessary money. People were paying taxed for programs they didn’t support or agree with. “In fiscal year 2015, the federal government spent $3.7 trillion, amounting to 21 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP). Of that $3.7 trillion, over $3.2 trillion was financed by federal revenues. The remaining amount ($438 billion) was financed by borrowing. As the chart below shows, three major areas of spending each make up about one-fifth of the budget” (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities). This article outlines the major areas of spending which are

The three biggest sources of government spending are Health, Social Security, and Defense (The Concord Coalition 2015).

Although the budgets and each level of government are similar, they each have their differences in how they are adopted. The biggest difference between federal and state budgets is the fact that the federal budget can have a deficit in order to meet obligations, whereas state governments are required to have a balanced budget. If there were limitations put on the federal government then the U.S. government would not be able to provide for national emergencies. The federal government has the ability to print money in times of constricted fiscal situations, whereas state governments cannot. The federal government’s budget provides for a large amount of military spending to fund the salaries of military personnel, buy new equipment for the military, and provide funding for military installations both within and outside of the United States. State governments’ are limited to what they provide in their defense budgets to only providing funds for the National Guard of the state. Another difference between federal and state budgets is the variety of revenue options. According to Florida International University, the federal government is the biggest collector of the majority of tax revenue. However, state and local governments have a larger range of

Congress and the President focus on this heavily. Mandatory spending is money that is given for entitlements such as Social Security and Medicaid. It is the largest portion of the budget and expected to grow. Congress and the President focus on this area of the budget the least because the money given out is determined by a formula based around the number of eligible households. Tax revenue is the money the government receives from taxes to fund its spending priorities.

The United States military spending accounts for nearly 54% of federal discretionary spending. Of the $1.1 trillion in discretionary spending in the United States, military spending accounts for the widest amount of spending with $598.5 billion being spent, roughly 54%. The section of federal discretionary spending that was even remotely close to the money spent on the military is the federal discretionary spending that the government accrued at just under $73 billion which accounts for only 6% of the $1.1 trillion in discretionary spending. In 2011 the United States government spent about $718 billion on defense and international security assistance, more than it spent on Medicare. United States military expenditures are roughly the size of the next nine largest military budgets around the world, combined.

Federal spending is a controversial topic due especially to the growing budget deficit. Millions of American citizens pay taxes each year helping to fund the Federal Budget. Although American citizens’ tax dollars are spent by the Federal Budget, how the resources are divided and spent are not always a proper reflection of how society wants the resources to be allocated. In 2013, Washington spent nearly $3.5 trillion, while only collecting $2.8 in revenue, adding billions to the budget deficit. Where do these tax dollars go? Approximately, 23% was spent on health care such as Medicare, 22% on Social Security, 19% on national defense, 19% on

America’s first income tax was executed as a way to help finance the overwhelming costs of the Civil War. Even though the income tax in 1862 was commonly a personal income tax, it added a tax on corporations, including withholding and taxing certain corporate interest and dividends but pursued to avoid double taxation. “An 1885 pamphlet wrote ‘‘[double corporate taxation] violate[s] the principles at the foundation of all systems of taxation’’ (Bloomfield 2011 p. 179). This attempt to raise money was not successful and public debt continued to rise. In response, the 1864 tax act reduced income ceilings and specifically included partnerships and corporations as taxable individuals. Afterwards, the Revenue Act of 1913 formally distinguished personal

Federal Government Budget Exercise: H.R. 4755, Inspiring the Next Space Pioneers, Innovators, Researchers, and Explorers (INSPIRE) Women Act

Program and policy expenditures are made to improve the lives of citizens. Most government revenues are derived from taxes. Individual and income taxes are the chief source of revenues. The

Throughout history, taxation on United States citizens has proven to be a necessary component of a growing economy as means of generating revenue for the federal budget. The federal budget funds the many government programs implemented to keep the disabled, elderly, and unemployed from falling bellow the poverty level. Unfortunately, this fund is not always available when catastrophic evens, such as an economic recession, deplete the revenue coming in and create a budget deficit. In order to regenerate money coming in and replace the deficit, the government calls on money gained from taxes. What happens when tax money is already appropriated to other programs? A tax reform. A tax increase has many times been the

Taxes are the dollars that we pay to government to supply the services that are not or can not be provided through the free enterprise system. Taxes have been around since the beginning of organized societies. They come in various forms. Most common are income taxes both federal and local government. These taxes are assessed on the amount of income a person earns. Other taxes come in the form of user taxes; these taxes are imposed on the people that are using the goods being taxed, such as gas tax, alcohol tax, sales tax, and luxury taxes. Property taxes make up the major revenues for local and city governments. Furthering the burden of taxation are taxes that are attached to such bills as utility

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

The Federal Government relies predominately on the individual income tax, and federal income tax makes up more than 50 percent of the federal government’s revenue. Income taxes are paid by all those who earn income (Mikesell, 2011). It is essentially a bill from the federal and state governments for individual earnings through salaries and investment profits. Income tax is considered a progressive tax because the individual's financial obligation rises with the level of reportable income (Mikesell, 2011). Although income tax is the one of the most effective ways of raising revenue for the government, it is also one of the most controversial.