The Federal Budget: A Biblical Perspective

Overspending is a pertinent problem facing the lawmakers in Congress. In 2012 discretionary spending reached $1.3 trillion and mandatory spending $2 trillion, while only bringing in $2.5 trillion in revenue. Since the turn of the century back in 2000, non-mandatory spending by the government has topped out a whopping $16.1 trillion just in the past 13 years (Boccia, Frasser & Goff 2013). This persistent overspending on programs and services that are not necessary to the functionality of the country is what is causing the deficit to rise year after year. To remedy this issue the government must either increase the revenue it brings in through taxes and trade or reduce the amount of money it spend or perhaps even both. In 2012 thirty-one cents of every dollar that Washington spent was borrowed (Boccia, Frasser & Goff 2013). Most of which went to large programs such as Social Security and Medicare and if these large, growing programs, or just the budget in general, do not undergo financial reform it could spell disaster for the economy and fiscal state of the nation.

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,

Growing spending and debt are undermining economic growth and may push the nation into a financial crisis in coming years. Edward then stated that the solution to these problems is to downsize every federal department by cutting the most harmful programs. This study proposes specific cuts that would reduce federal spending by almost one-quarter and balance the budget in less than a decade."

As we discussed and read about this week in our class, the topic of the US Budget and how, why and what should we do about it has become a topic with many views and opinions. The United States of America currently holds over 16 Trillion dollars in debt based on our governments spending practices for the last ten years. Two wars, numerous fiscal collapses and cliffs, a bubble popped housing market, looming medical care costs from a socialized healthcare law and a recession have caused the government to acquire enormous amounts of debt. This debt with caused by what seems to be from irresponsible spending on both the Legislative and the Executive Branches have done nothing to lessen this deficit. One idea that has been discussed not only in

The U.S. national debt is currently $18 trillion dollars and it is rising fast. The national debt today is the highest the U.S. has ever seen. In George Washington’s Farewell Address, he declared the U.S. should avoid going into debt. If the nation end up in a deficit, that the debtors were responsible for paying off the debt so that it doesn’t burden the future generations. Like the rest of this advice in his Farewell Address, the nation ignored it. The ideal goal right now should be to stop the debt from increasing anymore because it is impossible to stop the debt from increasing and expect to pay it off in this generation.

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 United States national debt is large. The U.S. Debt-to-GDP ratio has grown to over 60 percent in recent years. We are more than $15 trillion in debt. In this paper I will address the federal budget, the United States debt, and the resulting impacts on society in several sectors.

The U.S. government budget is made up of different content that present financial proposals from the President with advised importance for ration of revenue from the local government. More importantly, the budgets focus being the budget year. This is the next budgetary year where changes would have to be made by Congress. The budget not only covers the present year, but the next 4 years after the budget year to be able to resonate the outcome of budget verdicts past the extended term. This includes funding zones given for the present year in order for the reader to be able to make a comparison of Presidential budget propositions and the newest executed zones. Here the President starts the lengthy procedure of creating a budget by means of policy guidelines, at least 9 months prior sending his budget proposal off to Congress. Following the guidelines, the Budget Office along with Federal agencies create a policy for the present and future budget years.

(U.S. National Debt Clock.org, 2016) As a country we have carried debt since the American Revolution, in which we borrowed money from France and Netherlands . Yet under Jackson’s presidency, he sold government-owned land and cut spending to once again make us a debt free country. Now days resolving our debt is not at all that simple. Dollars are not minted much these days, instead, they are digital clouds created by the Federal Reserve. (Grant, 2016) This was made legal after the ruling on the case Perry v. US in which the supreme court ruled that our economy will no longer be based on the gold standard. (Perry v. United States 294 U.S. (1935), 2016) This should concern every citizen considering the fact that only the Federal Reserve can print money; the states and local government cannot. That causes state governments to cut services and raise taxes to meet pension obligations to public employees. (Grant,2016)

Segal (2010) points out that America has not had a balanced budget since 2001. In 2008 the US national debt held by foreign holdings was at 48%, while the public debt was at $5,461 billion (Segal, 2010; National priorities org, 2014). The national debt last reported was on October 2013 and had reached 17 trillion dollars, the same amount as the debt ceiling (National priorities Project, 2013).

Political commentators argue that another government shutdown as proposed by the Republican Party would be retrogressive. However, preventing another government shutdown requires collective action from the President and Congress. A delay in passing the appropriations bill is responsible for hampering the government spending plans for the 2016 fiscal year. According to political scholars spending caps introduced by the Obama administration are viable given that they limit the maximum amount of government expenditure. Additionally, the Budget Control Act is given credit for reducing the level of federal spending.

Thomas Jefferson once stated, "I place economy among the first and most important virtues, and public debt as the greatest of dangers. To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt" (Bussing-Burks, 7). A lot has changed since Jefferson was President two hundred years ago, but the need to be financially solvent is something that will always be necessary for the United States to maintain its leadership position in the world. The United States of America currently owes $16.7 trillion in debt primarily as a result of the government’s spending practices during the last ten years. Two wars, several fiscal collapses, the bursting of the bubble in the housing market, looming medical care costs from an

Personal budgeting is an important factor in regards to successful long term financial stability. Budgeting has many great aspects as well as showing areas of weakness. It can show the truth about your personal financial spending habits, areas that are not looked at enough, and if there are needs for a larger emergency fund. The reality of personal budgeting is that many people potentially do not keep a personal budget for one reason or another. People also don’t consider the negative effect that it could have on one personally and or how it effects the economy.

In addition, it is convenient to expand spending financed with debt, in order to counteract falling private demand and production. This policy is often convenient, since it avoids the waste of resources in a situation of recession. On the other hand, as Eggers suggests, the above also enables a Government to spend more than taxpayers are willing to finance, allowing for inefficient expenses that are inherited to future Governments. In addition, the periods of maturity and high-interest short-term debt, can destabilize the fiscal situation and the economy of the country.