The New York Times recently created a cool, interactive breakdown of the Obama Administration's proposed budget for 2011. Please note that the federal fiscal year runs from October 1 through September 30. The budget is subject to congressional after analysis by the congressional Budget Office. The approval process is time-consuming which is why the administration completed its proposal in January.
The federal budget process has many troubling aspects. Agencies have long followed the "use=it-or-lose-it" approach to spending. In other words, saving money only means the agency gets less money next year. That concerns me as a taxpayer.
This feature allows you to distinguish non-discretionary/mandatory from discretionary. Defense is discretionary. Also, another budgetary concern is that most mandatory budget items like Social Security must have annual cost of living increases commensurate with the rate of inflation. Of cruse, the Federal reserve said there was no inflation last year so no COLA for seniors. This did not go over well as you might imagine.
Students may enjoy reviewing which programs enjoy an increase in the budget. Why are some programs costing more while others are getting less money? did the president allude to these changes in any of his speeches?
Finally, note the increase in interest payments to the federal debt. This is the scariest part of the budget!!
i'm really not a good person to ask about the federal budget right now because to me it pretty much stinks! sure i was blessed enough to get the cost of living raise, but i was denied the 1st time homeowner's tax credit, because of some unspoken "loophole". then we bought cars last year, but didn't know they had to be 2009 cars. so again no federal tax credits. then most of the other tax credits, we were also not eligible for with the exception of 1 or 2 i think. where are all of these new jobs the president speaks of? my city is still looking at the same infrastruction renovations that were going on before the election, so they're nearing the end. there aren't any new ones. I'm not very happy with the new administration right now.
ReplyDeleteshelley baker
Vanessa Frost said...
ReplyDeleteI found this to be pretty interesting. I'm not sure how we can have a decrease in the budget for unemployment insurance by close to 50% when we have the highest unemployment in decades. Also, if this is a mandatory spending item, how can we estimate such a level of cuts? Same thing with Medicaid at a 11.2% cut? Guess it just goes to show you that the budget is pretty illusory, and no wonder we can never seem to get it to balance.
The interactive map is very informative. What a great tool for the general public to understand the budget proposal. Immediately, I found the 6.2% increase to the FDA interesting. I recently read "Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan and saw Food, Inc. I'm starting to wonder if organizations that were created to protect us are really working. I'm not sure if the increase will do any good. This is definitely something I will be looking into. Thanks for the post - Karen Voltoline
ReplyDeleteAmy Work
ReplyDeleteThat is very concerning that saving money this year means getting less money next year. This all just seems crazy to me. I mean I don't know much about budgets, but this just doesn't seem right. I think this is one of the things that will get a big uprise. I feel like that it deserves an uprise for sure.
I do not know a lot about the budgets and how the administration comes up with the figures. The National defense is something that I know we must have to secure our Nation. For about the last decade there was talk about social security going away for my generation. Anytime budgets cuts are made some people are not happy. However those who see the “big picture” make the decision to do what has to be done and sometimes that is the lesser or two evils. I believe the last administration really bombed out on the budget and the U. S. is suffering for it. That was done before Obama was elected and he cannot undo in 1 or 2 years what it took the Bush administration to do in 8years.
ReplyDeleteNicole Matthews
The first thing that jumps at me is that after we're done with defense, and social programs, there is little left. There is no long term vision, there is not plan for growth and investments in the future. There is only a reaction to the present. You mentioned a significant increase in Interest payment, but there is nothing on principal. There is also a 50% drop in unemployment payments, which tells me not that people have going back to work but that their benefits have expired.
ReplyDeleteWhat you say about agencies losing what they don't use is valid, but again there is no focus on the greater good, reduction of debt, investment in new technologies, resources, etc. Strictly, the here and now. It reflects on very poor stewardship, and the responsibility is on all of us, not just the one at the helm. There should be a very aggressive and immediate plan to tackle all waste, and non-necessary programs. It is so urgent, yet, it's not even on the agenda.
Richard Lefrancois
The map was a really interesting way to visually understand where our federal budget is going. The federal budget is so large & complex it's often difficult to get a grasp of it & with the trillions being spent it's hard to fathom! With the huge amount of debt & spending, I don’t see how Obama can keep his repeated campaign pledges of not raising taxes on the middle class. The spending, debt payments with interest are just not going to be able to be sustainable without tax increases on most people and it seems this week that the White House was somewhat backing down from these pledges by indicating nothing is off the table at this point.
ReplyDeleteSocial security overall is a troubling program that I don’t expect to be provided much from when the time comes. While I can understand the frustration with not getting increases in payments, lack of pay increases has been a pretty common occurrence across the country for working people as well. It’s a difficult economy & we’ve all felt the pinch of these difficult times.
I’d have to say though that I’d agree that one of the most troubling & red flags about this budget proposal is the interest payments. Where’s that money going to come from? There’s going to have to be a lot of sacrifices made by the American public in the name of reducing the National deficit. We need to look for ways to reduce spending programs, not increase them through the passage reckless bills that do nothing to control costs.
Lori Skewes
I know all too well about the use it or lose it approach to an annual budget. Believe it or not, in Property Management for an apartment community and as the property manager we are bound by a use it or lose it approach. We either have to spend the money or it is that much less you receive for the next calendar year. It doesn’t quite seem far or even make sense when each year has its own needs within itself. Not every year will remain the same and therefore, some years you may need more budgeted than others.
ReplyDeleteI am not an Obama fan and did not vote for him. I do not agree with his tactics, his socialism, his spending habits or his defense tactics. I think closing Guantanamo Bay was idiotic and not the way to defend this Country. Furthermore, you can argue as much as you want about President George W. Bush, but at least after 9/11 occurred we were protecting this Country and our liberty.
Obama’s idea of getting our Country out of debt with these billion dollar stimulus packages is an untutored decision from a man who appears to the citizens as a ‘wise’ and articulate individual. Furthermore, I totally disagree with his micromanaging the rich by taking more money from the rich and dispersing it to the poor; it is unethical and not what we stand for in the United States of America. We are the land of opportunity and someone who works their tail off to make it to the top should be able to enjoy their hard working income. He is crippling the Country by taking from the rich and giving to the poor. It will make the poor want to stay poor because who doesn’t like a nice free hand out? And the rich, well, why make more money because you will only see a fraction of your hard working money, and therefore, more people lose jobs and fewer jobs are available. Why? Who do you think owns the businesses that hire so many people and create more jobs? The rich! Therefore, stop punishing the rich and go back to being a Country with opportunity. He is not creating more jobs as promised he is causing people to close their doors and lose jobs.
The healthcare bill is absurd. Talk about adding to our deficit. Small businesses will close down because they cannot afford to provide healthcare to all associates AND their families.
As far as Social Security, no offense, but maybe if we stopped giving hand out to illegal aliens that come into our country and collect a social security check, which they never contributed to in the first place. Again, and like the poor, why not come over to the United States of America and receive a monthly check from a country I never paid a dime to and with the Healthcare bill – guess who also pays for their healthcare? The citizens of the United States of America will pay for both the social security checks they receive as well as the free healthcare. We will be taxed and paying for free benefits to others. I am not saying that individuals should not be allowed in our Country; what I am saying is that they should be required to become legal citizen, they should have to contribute for a minimum of 20 years before they can collect social security checks or unemployment and also be bound by the same requirements as Americans and same taxes. We are encouraging illegal aliens to reside in our Country illegally because it is so beneficial to them. What I would like to see is Obama thinking about Americans and putting Americans first in what we would like to consider our Country!
Neisha Potter
Karen,
ReplyDeleteI think you make an excellent point. I too am concerned about the protection this administration is offering to the people in this Country.I think poor decisions have been made thus far and those decision are putting our citizens in danger of future attacks.
Nice post.
Neisha
It is really shame of me, my country; however, we have same spending approach “use it or lose it.” At the end of the year you can see construction works in everywhere in my country. It is absolutely useless work such as digging road and sewages. There is no social need for these works; however, each cities and agencies try not to have money for transferred to next year. Checking and knowing about the government budget is always painful and full of disappointment. Isn’t it?
ReplyDeleteThe expected big increase is Health Care Services from 15M to 24.4B, presumably the proposed reductions for State Medicaid grants is included. How many of us have found the benefits of maintaining a budget based on previous spending habits? I always thought budgets were created based on goals and needs. I find it very interesting that many of the reductions are in areas for the underprivileged, the veterans and unemployed. Don’t get me started on how the government tracks unemployment; our government only considers those that are currently drawing unemployment, not those that are still unemployed after the benefits run out…they are the “forgotten” ones. ~D.Hargrove
ReplyDeleteThe federal budget seems to change based on the current presidents view on "priorities". I do not always agree with the cuts and such that come with these views. I personally do not think that defense should be a discretionary part of the budget. It should be mandatory.
ReplyDeleteSome of the programs are costing more because Obama seems to think they need more money because they are of higher priority while others are receiving less because he views them as less of a priority. I think that most politicians (not just Obama) tend to be kind of shady. They have agendas other than what they release to the public and expect to get away with them at the expense of the American people. It's kind of sad that most people do not trust politicians yet they are the people that run our country.
Cassia Key
The '"use=it-or-lose-it" approach' really scares me. I understand that as one way of dealing with things, but not all things. It is wise to plan using research, but no one knows the future. If we get rid of something we haven't used in the past, how do we know we won't need it in the future? We won't. Some things do change with time, but this is not something we can apply to everything. Dangerous thinking. Very dangerous thinking.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to see that the national debt has completely gone out of the window. It seems that we are beginning to take on a "who cares" approach to the debt entirely. I understand that things come up and inflation happens and war is sometimes unpreventable, but that really is no excuse to spend billions of dollars that we are borrowing from other countries. America has always been the land of the free, home of the brave, but if we continue to borrow and spend, soon enough we're going to owe more than we were willing to commit to. No matter where it is that spending is cut, someone is not going to be happy. There is no possible way that everyone is going to be happy all of the time. It really just comes down to what is best for the future of our country.
ReplyDeleteElisabeth Delgado
Derrick Watson
ReplyDeleteI am impressed with this breakdown and the fact that anyone can see what it means. That being said I have some major concerns with this budget. For instance the following a slated for cuts. Grants to states for medicade, unemployment insurance, Veterans compensation, Special Education, Education for the underprivledged, school improvements, Higher education, child support and family support programs and Low income home energy assistance. These concern me because they affect either myself or someone in my immediate family. My father and and grand father and step-father all served this country and were honorably discharged and they are wanting to cut their compensation. That is not right.
Thanks for posting this budget proposal. I thought that it was an excellent way for someone like me (somewhat uninformed on the subject) to visually see where the federal budget is going. I was shocked to see the increase in Food Stamps. Over $80 billion in 2011?? I'm not sure that the continual increase in this area is fixing the problem. I realize that due to the economic downturn a lot more people are probably taking advantage of this program, but at what point do we get people to help themselves and get off of these programs. I believe in helping people when they are down, but at some point they have to take over.
ReplyDeleteJennifer Bizzell
I believe that the national budget is a glorified, expensive joke. With a government that is as spend happy as ours there is no way, shy of a miracle, that we will be getting out of our debt at all. With new "laws" such as PAYGO we are all in trouble. When you have a Congress that likes to spend, and they have to either cut spending or raise taxes, which do you think it will be? In all fairness, while I'm somewhat a W fan, he was also very generous with our money and spent too much. Obama has further continued the trend to the point where America has essentially needed to raise the limit on its credit card. How much sense does this make, "We are in debt so we need to spend more money to get out of debt and get it under control?" None. The best way I have heard it put is this, "You cannot take away freedom to protect it, you cannot destroy the free market to save it, and you cannot uphold freedom of speech by silencing those with whom you disagree. To take rights away to defend them or to spend your way out of debt defies common sense."— Glenn Beck
ReplyDeleteJay Bell
While I cannot directly speak against the commander in chief I will say that his administration as a whole has been rather disappointing to say the least. With every presidential race you know there will always be promises but what percentage of those promises ever come to pass and which ones and words spoken only to gain another vote. It is unfortunate although it is simply the truth. At this point in time there has been tons of promises of an economic turn around and new jobs, yet all we see is the national debt grow higher and higher and the unemployment rate is right there with it!
ReplyDeleteNow you want to talk about where money cold wisely be spent, how about on our military. It is unbelievable but when you break it down even the top Officers and even Enlisted personnel who are in charge of making the biggest decisions with regards to this nations security are barely making 100-150k, now yes that is a lot of money but when you think of all the scum bag CEO's running banks, and other similar professions who make easily 7 figures, it literally makes me sick. Ok well I'm going to get off my soap box and go cool down.
God Bless America and the people who give their lives to defend our freedom
-Joe Marchant-
Government budgets are a nightmare to manage and a nightmare to control. I work for the government that is non appropriated funds. That means we don’t get our money from tax dollars. In order to get what you need for the money, you have to write very detailed statement of works and stay on top of projects to the point of micromanaging. That’s because so many commercial corporations know they can soak the government for millions of dollars. On top of that, the head count is so low that it is impossible to get things done the way they’re supposed to be done. I manage a network organization that has 30% of the people I should have. Yet we are effective, efficient, and we get stuff done. The level of accomplishment we achieve amazes our commercial counterparts. I also work with many military persons on the different bases. These individuals perform their jobs as good as any if not better. I know my staff gets half the pay as the commercial folks yet works the same long hours and usually gets more done. When we engage Cisco or Microsoft, they typically can’t keep up with us.
ReplyDeleteThe COLA situation is very unfortunate because many do not have the means to live now. What I take from this is the responsibility to get as debt free as I can before I retire and to own my home. That may sound kind of simple but when you get right down to it, shelter and clothes and food will be my main needs when I retire. With all of this said, I still realize the providential care the Jesus Christ has for my life. If He doesn’t want me to suffer, and I try to use my brain and follow Him, I will not suffer. If He wants me to suffer, then I will suffer. When considering all of these situations, we are to keep on mission to do the work of God.
The first time that I heard about "use it or lose it" was while I was in the military. I could not stand this approach to government spending. I was required to spend a specific amount of money every quarter even if we needed it or not. There was so much waste going on from unit to unit. The crazy thing was that most people didn't see it as their money but as free money from the government.
ReplyDeleteAs far as giving money to social issues, I believe that it is the job of the Christian to help the poor and less fortunate. I know that there are some who take advantage of the system to live lazy lives, sitting around receiving handouts. I believe that there should be a cap on how many years someone can receive these benefits. If we focus more on helping the poor to receive training and the ability to provide for themselves, we would have a much better society. Some people go through really hard times and just need a little bit of help to get back on their feet. Others, don't ever intend to get back on their feet.
As far as the FDA, I think the government is definitely stepping over the line in many areas. I too recently watched the movie "Food Inc." and believe that the government's control over some areas in the food industry are despicable.
Charles Vincent
Being a retired Navy vetern I have seen the budget shortfalls and extreme spending. Like what has been said before, I have personnally witness receiving money towards the end of the fiscal year to spend on what ever was need in order to not have any money left over on the books. At times it was frustrating because we could have used that money earlier to buy parts to repair equipment that was down. We were not allowed at the time to spend that money because we had already spent our alloted money for the quarter. However, towards the end of the fiscal year there was always monies left over and we were told to spend or lose it. Many times we bought stuff that was not really needed, but just nice to have things. I think that as tax payers we should be very concern with the spend or lose attitude concern our nations budget.
ReplyDeleteI think the thing that bothers me most is that "agencies have long followed the "use=it-or-lose-it" approach to spending." If that is the approach to spending in order for agencies to mantain their budget, I am positive that some of their expenses are frivolous. I am glad that they are changing this mentality, I am just not sure if the proposed plan of action is the best.
ReplyDeleteChristina Simmons
I am very troubled by what our current Administration is doing with the budget. To be fair, very few administrations have handled the US budget properly. Spending beyond our means seems to be a theme with most administration. Had the previous administrations handled the budget properly, maybe we would not be in the fix we are in now. President Ohama’s administration is spending like we have a balanced budget and money in the coffers. We have become so indebted to other nations, such as China and other countries, it is scary. We also keep robbing Peter to Pay Paul, such as spending the money from the Social Security budget to pay other national debt. There are other examples too numerous to mention. It is going to take a special administration, along with the support of the majority of Americans, to cinch up our belts, cut spending, reduce government, reform the national tax code (e.g. Flat Tax), and pay off our national debt. I know that is a simplistic answer - but doable, if we will just have the courage as a nation to do it.
ReplyDeleteDavid Blankenship
As realized by our fore fathers who founded this great nation and contributed to the ratification of the Constitution, humankind is a complex organism. The majority understand the concept of all men being created equal and desiring the benefit of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness". What upsets the norm is when others overextend their power and control in an effort to gain more riches through the exploitation of others, namely those born without privilege. I am of the opinion that President Obama is both educated on how this has affected our past, while being well aware of how it shapes our present. And with regard to the budget, I think that given lemons, he is doing his best to make lemonade while balancing the challenges of trying to please and appease individuals and groups who do not share the same heart for maintaining fair and equal justice. The Waffe-POLS 2301 N1
ReplyDeleteI am really new to reading into budgets and things; however, I find it very interesting that Unemployment Insurance programs are being decreased by 47.2% along with the decreases in HUD and other nutrition programs. However, we are increasing Section 8 housing, WIC, and Food Stamps. Also I am unclear what PAYGO is and why is the Healthcare Services being increased by 192,200% and the Social Security PAYGo being decreased 95.6%. If someone could explain, I'd greatly appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteI found it very interesting that the more the government spends this year, the more money they will get next year. I am not sure how that is even allowed to work. I find it very troublesome that they are encouraged to spend more money in a time like this in order to receive more money for the next year. It scares me so much to think that the money that we work hard for is put into the hands of people who have no concept of conserving money.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that there have been such an increase in interest payments recently. I am not sure if there is any other organization on earth that could take so long to balance a budget. There is logic to the way the budget is created within the Federal Government, however, the people that are in charge of the budget seem to cause more problems than they solve. Social Security and other budget issues are so massive and so confusing that the general public has a difficult time understanding it. If the budget were easier for the general public to understand and was more transparent there would not be near as many issues.
ReplyDeleteCorey Crawford
I understand the "use-it-or-lose-it" concept behind budgeting -- every corporate or departmental budget that I have ever been involved with was based on that premise, and it can make a lot of sense on a small-scale basis. However, those were relatively trivial budgets and not coming out of my pocket. As a taxpayer, applying that concept to the federal budget does make me cringe with the knowledge that it could (has) quickly spiraled out of control -- which is extremely obvious just by taking note of the huge dollar amounts allocated to interest payments. Scary indeed! What would be really interesting to see is a button labeled "remove special interest earmarks and pork barrel spending" -- I wonder what the resulting budget numbers would look like (probably a lot easier to stomach than this one)!
ReplyDeleteSherry Silcox-DBU