Recently in Budget – United States Category

Source: Citizens for Tax Justice, April 2010

State Fact Sheets and Analyses from Citizens for Tax Justice

With both the Bush tax cuts and President Obama's expansions of certain parts of those cuts set to expire at the end of 2010, the decisions Congress makes in the coming months will have very different effects on taxpayers at different income levels, according to a new report from Citizens for Tax Justice.

The report shows that low- and middle-income taxpayers will pay higher taxes under the Republican approach than under President Obama's approach. It also shows that the richest taxpayers will pay far less under the Republican approach than under President Obama's approach.
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Limiting Tax Expenditures Must Be a Part of Congress's Efforts to Balance the Budget

Source: Marc Labonte, Andrew Hanna, Congressional Research Service, R41134, March 23, 2010

After recording a fiscal year (FY) 2000 federal budget surplus of $236.2 billion, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in January 2001 projected continued surpluses throughout the decade. However, enactment of major legislation during the 107th to 111th Congresses, in combination with changing economic conditions, altered the federal budget outlook for the decade dramatically. In FY2002, the budget recorded a deficit for the first time since 1997, and the federal government has run a deficit in each subsequent year.

This report examines to what extent major legislative changes from 2001 to 2009 caused the budget to move from surplus to deficit. Legislative actions taken in 2009 increased the FY2009 deficit by $509 billion, whereas legislative actions taken between 2001 and 2008 increased the FY2009 deficit by $903 billion. Furthermore, legislative changes have cumulatively increased federal budget deficits over FY2001 to FY2009 by $5.4 trillion.

Source: Dean Baker, Center for Economic and Policy Research, February 2010

From the summary:
The Great Recession has left tens of millions of families facing unemployment, underemployment and the threat of losing their home. However, concerns over the deficit threaten to derail efforts to turn around the economy and spur employment. This report attempts to correct many of the misperceptions about the deficit that have brought the issue to the center of national debate. In a time when cogent, effective policies are needed to address the suffering stemming from the economic downturn, the tactics of the deficit hawks distract the public and policy makers from the policies necessary to bring the economy back to full employment.
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Press Release

Source: New America Foundation, Federal Education Budget Project, Issue Brief, February 2010

The president's 2011 budget request marks the second time the Obama administration has submitted funding recommendations for every federal education program and a comprehensive list of new education policy initiatives. The administration has proposed a $49.7 billion budget for education programs subject to the annual appropriations process (excluding Pell Grants), up from $46.2 billion in fiscal year 2010. This issue brief provides a summary and analysis of the president's fiscal year 2011 education budget request.

Source: Office of Management and Budget, February 2010

Issued by the Office of Management and Budget, the Budget of the United States Government is a collection of documents that contains the budget message of the President, information about the President's budget proposals for a given fiscal year, and other budgetary publications that have been issued throughout the fiscal year. Other related and supporting budget publications, such as the Economic Report of the President, are included, which may vary from year to year.

Source: Jason Delisle, New America Foundation, December 2009

From the summary:
Congress completed the fiscal year 2010 appropriations process on Dec. 13, 2009, finalizing annual funding for nearly all federal education programs through September 2010 at $63.7 billion, up $1.1 billion from the prior year, excluding economic stimulus funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Making sense of the federal education budget and the appropriations process can be a frustrating task for education advocates, state and local policymakers, the media, and the public. The now concluded fiscal year 2010 appropriations process is no exception.

This issue brief is intended to be a helpful guide to the appropriations process and recently enacted fiscal year 2010 education funding. It includes an analysis of funding for major education programs and a timeline of the 2010 appropriations process. It also includes exclusive tables comparing 2010 funding to prior years, the president's budget request, and funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Source: Richard Auxier, Pew Research Center, November 12, 2009

Americans are famous both for being weight conscious, and at the same time unable to come to terms successfully with their bloated waistlines. The same paradox has applied to how the public looks at budget deficits for a very long time.

Source: Kris Cox, Kathy Ruffing, James R. Horney, and Paul N. Van de Water, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, September 30, 2009

From the summary:
For a number of years, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) has projected the long-term path of federal spending, revenues, deficits, and debt if current policies remain unchanged. These projections have shown that deficits and debt will grow in coming decades to unprecedented levels that will not only compromise the federal government's ability to address critical national priorities, but also pose a real threat to the U.S. economy and Americans' standard of living.

Thus, while it is imperative that we avoid undercutting ongoing efforts to spur a recovery from what is in many respects the worst recession since the 1930s, it is vital that policymakers begin as soon as possible to take the steps needed to raise revenues and slow spending growth when the economy recovers in order to put the budget on a sustainable path. They can -- and must -- do this in a way that also maintains policies that meet crucial national needs and that avoids further increasing poverty and inequality.

Source: Rosa Maria Castaneda, Olivia Golden, Urban Institute, August 8, 2009

From the abstract:
This report summarizes the roundtable "Infants and Toddlers in State and Federal Budgets: Yesterday's Choices, Today's Decisions, Tomorrow's Options" conducted by the Urban Institute, with support from the A.L. Mailman Family Foundation, on March 30, 2009. The roundtable's focus grew out of the widely perceived mismatch between sharply limited public investments on infants and toddlers and an accumulated body of research demonstrating the significance of the earliest years of life. We describe the group's diverse perspectives and wide-ranging discussion of strategies to address this mismatch.

Source: Congressional Budget Office, June 16, 2009

Because the Congress is now considering major legislation affecting health care and health insurance, the possible effects on the federal budget have received significant attention. To elucidate those effects, this analysis examines the budget outlook under current law; the likely budgetary effect of efforts to expand the scope of insurance coverage; the potential for reducing health care spending; the likely impact of specific changes in the health system; and mechanisms for engendering efficiency gains in health care over time.