Chapter 5In Anderson’s outline of the budget process, he notes that the actual amount of the federal budget does not differ that much between the president’s proposal and Congress’s proposal, though the expenditures for specific programs can vary a great deal. In addition, the federal budget, when controlled for inflation, has quadrupled between 1960 and 2004, which means that the overall amount of the federal budget is a staggering number.
The president, with assistance from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), submits a budget proposal to Congress each year. In this exercise, you will work on adjusting the national budget through a simulation. First, go to the National Budget Simulation site and play the short version of the simulation without looking at the Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 budget proposal from the White House. Doing so might surprise you as you adjust spending levels; that is, a cut in a program that you think is responsible for a significant portion of the budget may produce a negligible reduction in the proposed deficit. After you have adjusted the budget without any knowledge of the president’s proposed budget, go to the OMB’s website and look at the FY2006 budget. After you have seen the real numbers, go back to the simulation page and imagine that you are a member of one of the budget committees in Congress. How would you specifically adjust the president’s proposal? Would you increase taxes in order to raise revenue or would you cut funding to certain programs? You may also want to play the longer version of the simulation, which allows you to adjust specific areas within each policy area.
The National Budget Simulation
http://www.nathannewman.org/nbs/ - The website for the National Budget Simulation, which allows users to adjust the overall policy area’s proposed budget or specific components of it.
Office of Management and Budget
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/ - The website for the OMB. This site provides the budget for the upcoming fiscal year, along with reports and Congressional testimony.
