Analyzing the Federal Budget

I have you reading a variety of publications that look at the Federal budget. I suggest that as you

read each piece, you take notes when you are done. Think in terms of about half to a full page of notes

and then when you are completely done, you can use those notes to be able to write your essay. Since

these pieces address different aspects of the Federal budget think in terms of the following:

1) Trends. Here is where different pieces suggest how to look at revenue growth or spending

growth in the future based on past history. When referring to the word “future” usually you

think in terms of the short-term versus long-term. Exactly where the dividing is between these

is unclear but as a safe bet probably the short-term is the next five years, the long-term might

be a decade from now. So, what trends are being addressed and why?

2) The big outlays that are on the horizon. Obviously, health care and retirement costs are always

front and center, but what about them will cost money. As you go through the readings you

want to try to get a handle on what might be controllable from what appears to be more

difficult to control.

3) Where the money comes from. I gave you various readings addressing revenue from different

sources (income tax, Social Security Trust Fund, payroll tax, capital gains tax, for example). You

may want to think in terms of the strengths and weaknesses of these different revenue sources.

What can we expect from the income tax as a source of government revenue in the future and

why? The capital gains tax as a percentage of total revenue collected and whether it can

significantly matter or not and why. The pressures placed on the Social Security Trust Fund and

what that means to it contributing to financing the government.

The focus is then what your paper needs to address.

 In your essay address what you see as important about the Federal budget and why. This is a very

broad statement so you need to determine why you are analyzing specific aspects of the budget—and

explaining why you are focusing your attention on specific issues. I do not want this to be a general

essay—you need to get to specifics within the readings. There is a great deal of detailed information

presented in these readings so demonstrate how you use it in your essay. Here is the importance of the

notes you took--that you draw upon them to write your essay.