The Federal Budget What exactly establishes the federal budget? Just as it takes money to run a household, it takes money to run the government. Like people, the government also makes choices about how to spend its money. Each year, the President and Congress have an official back-and-forth process of deciding what next year’s budget should be. All the government agencies and departments submit a budget request explaining how much money is a necessity. The president makes a list of his own spending priorities, and so does the Congress. They debate, consult, and finally compromise to form a budget that says how much money each entitlement program will receive. When it comes to the federal budget, there are different aspects that are affected;
Budgeting is perhaps the most essential process involved in the United States government. While this process seems to exist only in the background, it is, in reality, what allows all other processes of government to function as they do. In order to satisfy the most necessities of modern society, changes must be made to each of the three major categories of the budget: the big five, the middle five, and the little guys.
“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
In theory it was the president (The Department of the Treasury) who the necessary money, to cover the budget.
Budget preparation is a process with designated groups and individuals having defined responsibilities. According to Irene S. Rubin “ The public budget process mediates between organizations and individuals who want different things and determines who gets what out of the budget.”1The Government set up an annual budget that includes people perspectives, opinions , accountability and than determine how the budget will get divided based on protected interests. Moreover, Public budgeting determines how government spend money, provide necessary resources , and limit government expenditures to prevent overspending.
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).
“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,
There are some differences and similarity between the State and Federal budget. The Federal budget is bigger than the State budget. The federal government have the sovereign bank. The Federal government have the ability to print additional money when the need arises. The federal budget needs not balance revenues and expenditures for each fiscal year. At the subnational level, appropriations must not exceed revenues in the State budget. This creates restriction which is mandated for almost all the state and local finances. “This imposes a discipline at state and local government which the federal government may chronically evade. States cope by setting aside reserves in good years to hopefully cover deficits in bad revenue years” (n.d., 2012).
The government needs to take more caution creating the federal budget. Edwards stated that “Consider Canada's experience. In the mid-1990s, the federal government faced a debt crisis caused by overspending, which is similar to America's current situation. But the Canadian government reversed course and slashed spending from 23 percent of GDP in 1993, to 17 percent by 2000, to just 15 percent today. The Canadian economy did not sink into a recession from the cuts as Keynesians would have expected but instead grew strongly during the 1990s and 2000s."
Should the Federal Budget be spent evenly or are some categories more important than others? There were goals for the United States when it was created, it is called the Preamble. The United States wants to fulfill these goals, however they have a budget. The government hasn’t been spreading the money evenly between the categories. (BGE) The category of the Big Five has way too much of the budget. If we spent more money on other categories, will the government be able to fulfill the goals of the Preamble? Within each of the three budget clusters -the Big Five, the Middle Five, and the Little Guys - several changes should be made because the amount of money the government is spending on one cluster isn’t benefitting our country.
The federal budget is known as the notorious economic tank from which money is distributed to various programs. The money used every fiscal year, which begins October 1st and ends September 30th the next year, belongs to the people. The government raises this money through taxes and they spend it on national defense, Medicare, and social security. The federal budget is an exercise in making choices, and those options will certainly affect individuals living in the U.S. These choices cause debt to pile up on the government, who is struggling to make it disappear. The deficit and debt of a government gauges how well it is being run and how well it has been run in the past. According to The Economist the national debt is the total
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
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
The federal government collects fees, taxes and certain revenues every year while spending in other fields. Deficits happen when total expenditures in a fiscal year outweigh the total revenues, when this happens; the
Not counting savings, I was able to come in under budget by $11.03. It was really difficult to create a budget on such a low monthly income. The first thing I did was to locate an apartment. The upper range I had in mind for my apartment was $400, and the cheapest one I could find was $399 per month. It was also very difficult trying to determine whether I wanted to drive a car. Since the expenses for car insurance and gas would be really high, I decided to not use a car. Fortunately, I got a job as a cashier at a nearby Walmart. Thus, I could just walk to work. In addition, I found it difficult to find a relatively inexpensive after school activity for the kids until I got off work. The budget for groceries was also a tough amount to determine. Even if I use coupons, it would be difficult for my family to stay within the budget every month for groceries. Overall, I budgeted the bare minimum to my wants so that I could set aside money to my family’s needs. In order to meet all the expenses and live comfortably this family would need to be in the middle class.