A Peoples Guide To The Federal Budget

From history of the budget process to detail about the ongoing conflict in Washington, from charts explaining where every federal dollar goes to simple explanations of budget terminology, this book covers it all. A People’s Guide to the Federal Budget is for every American who wants to understand and participate in a process that affects all of us. It serves as a foundation for the novice reader, a reference tool for a more advanced audience, and is perfect for high school and college classroom use. Released to coincide with the fiscal year 2013 budget process and the 2012 presidential election, this guide includes up-to-the-minute numbers and explanation of President Obama’s 2013 budget request.

In The Guide for the Federal Budget, author Stanley E. Collender makes clear that despite the regular uncertainties of the nations budgetary needs and the first fiscal year with a surplus since 1969, the budget is an immense and understandable entity.

Next year, your Federal Government will spend nearly $2.0 trillion. Needless to say, that's a lot of money. In fact, that's almost $7,000 for every man, woman, and child in the country; nearly $5.4 billion per day; and about $3.7 million per minute. And most of that money comes from taxes on the American people. The Government spends it on lots of things-on programs as large as Social Security, and on activities as small and unknown as repairs to the National Zoo. Together, these programs are what make up the Federal budget. How much do you know about the budget? If your answer is "not much," you're not alone. In fact, hardly anybody knows everything that's in the thousands of pages, and several books, that make up the budget each year. But we know you care a lot about how the Government spends your money. That's why A Citizen's Guide to the Federal Budget was created. With this seventh edition, we hope to make the budget more accessible and understandable. The Guide is designed to give you a walking tour of the budget. In these pages, we will outline for you how the Government raises revenues and spends money, how the President and Congress enact the budget, how the Nation has been able to move from deficit to surplus, and what the President hopes to accomplish with his 2002 Budget. After you read these pages, we hope that you will think the tour was worth your time.

What do nude beaches and catfish have to do with the federal budget? Quite a bit, it turns out. Working the Federal Budget fills the need for an unvarnished, readable guide to how the federal government collects money and spends it. Centuries of political struggles over the size and funding of government have produced a dense set of budget-related laws, procedures, court decisions and outright improvisations. The resulting rules are legion, complex, and remain a secret to many. In this book, author George D. Krumbhaar unravels the complexity with a journalist’s eye for clarity and a lawyer’s eye for detail, explaining the system, plainly laying out the laws that lie behind it, and identifying the players that are central to decision making at various stages in the process. With chapters covering the grandiose (why we have such big deficits) and the picayune (PAYGO and its importance) in fascinating and often entertaining detail, Working the Federal Budget provides an invaluable and critical exploration of the who, the what, and the why of the budget process for readers with an interest in government relations and how the government functions—whether from Capitol Hill, the executive branch, "K Street," postgraduate studies or even civic concern.

Provides a basic sense of what the budget is, how the Government raises and spends money, why it has generated budget deficits over the years, and why you should care about the deficit. Also provides an explanation of the President's budget policies to date, and what he plans for the future.

Over the past 35 years, hundreds of thousands of readers have agreed: This is the classic guide to "living, traveling, and taking things as they come" in Mexico. Now in its updated 14th edition, The People's Guide to Mexico still offers the ideal combination of basic travel information, entertaining stories, and friendly guidance about everything from driving in Mexico City to hanging a hammock to bartering at the local mercado. Features include: • Advice on planning your trip, where to go, and how to get around once you're there • Practical tips to help you stay healthy and safe, deal with red tape, change money, send email, letters and packages, use the telephone, do laundry, order food, speak like a local, and more • Well-informed insight into Mexican culture, and hints for enjoying traditional fiestas and celebrations • The most complete information available on Mexican Internet resources, book and map reviews, and other info sources for travelers

Rowman & Littlefield is proud to publish the 17th edition of what is now considered to be the most useful reference book available on the federal budget. In The Guide to the Federal Budget, Fiscal 1998, Stanley E. Collender, among a handful of people who have worked for both the House and Senate budget committees, analyzes the extensive debates surrounding the fiscal 1997 budget and explains in detail such 1998 budget challenges as the line item veto, entitlement spending, and the persistent politics of divided government. An indispensable guide for policy analysts, The Guide to the Federal Government, Fiscal 1998 is written at a level accessible to general readers and includes illuminating appendices, a revised and updated glossary of key terms, and a thorough index. With a concluding chapter entitled "How to Read and Use the Federal Budget," and a new chapter on the line item veto, this book will be particularly useful for courses in Budget Politics and Analysis and Public Policy.