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In the United States, the size and composition of the federal
budget is arguably the most important single issue of the 1990's,
yet most debates and commentaries on the subject are largely
uninformed. Virtually no one - whether government official, member
of Congress, journalist, or taxpayer - seems to understand how the
budget is put together and what it means. This is hardly
surprising, since the budget has become extraordinarily
complicated. The structure of the budget reform act of 1911 has
been maintained, with the changes of additional reforms (1974,
1986, and 1990) piled on top of it, while virtually nothing has
been discarded. Most people are distressed at the enormous size of
the federal deficit and perplexed because highly touted plans and
agreements to bring the deficit down result in an even higher
deficit. Why does this happen? Why is there a growing deficit amid
cries of underfunding? Why is there general agreement on a format
that has proved so misleading? This book comprises a series of
essays about the federal budget - how and why it has grown so
large, why most "deficit-reduction" measures are either shams or
predestined to fail, and why understanding budget issues is so
difficult. The authors offer a new perspective, a microbudgeting
approach, which requires examining in detail how the federal
government makes its budget decisions. Macrobudgeting, which is
concerned with totals rather than parts, has prevailed for more
than a generation in both Democratic and Republican
administrations; the deficit-reduction drives of the 1980's, for
example, failed because the parts added up to more than the
targeted totals. By contrast, microbudgeting breaks the budget down
into its basic elements, carefully reviews the assumptions
underlying each program or account, and critically examines the
methods by which savings are computed. Using this approach, the
authors demonstrate that it is possible to understand the budget
process and to make informed decisions on issues of public policy.
Individual essays focus on such topics as: the changing
Congressional budget processes that have been critically important
in contributing to the federal budget deficits that have persisted
since World War II; the origins, uses, and abuses of budget
baselines; and the myth of the budget reductions of the Reagan
presidency.
Budgeting for the federal government is an enormously complex
process. This book provides a comprehensive explanation of the
federal budget process, including an overview and separate chapters
on the framework for budget enforcement; the President's budget;
the congressional budget resolution and reconciliation; revenues
and borrowing; authorisations and direct spending; annual
appropriations; and the implementation of spending laws. In
addition, a thorough explanation is provided pertaining to the
federal budget process; the understanding of how it works and how
the data is interpreted. Excerpts from legislation, standard forms
and other documentation developed at each stage of the budget
process are exhibited. Appended materials include a listing of
milestones in the federal budget process, citations to major
budgetary laws and a glossary of budgetary terms.
The federal budget impacts American policies both at home and
abroad, and recent concern over the exploding budgetary deficit has
experts calling our nation's policies "unsustainable" and
"system-dooming." As the deficit continues to grow, will America be
fully able to fund its priorities, such as an effective military
and looking after its aging population? In this third edition of
his classic book The Federal Budget, Allen Schick examines how
surpluses projected during the final years of the Clinton
presidency turned into oversized deficits under George W. Bush. In
his detailed analysis of the politics and practices surrounding the
federal budget, Schick addresses issues such as the collapse of the
congressional budgetary process and the threat posed by the
termination of discretionary spending caps. This edition updates
and expands his assessment of the long-term budgetary outlook, and
it concludes with a look at how the nation's deficit will affect
America now and in the future. "A clear explanation of the federal
budget... [Allen Schick] has captured the politics of federal
budgeting from the original lofty goals to the stark realities of
today." -Pete V. Domenici, U.S. Senate
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