Term Papers on U.S. Government Budget

Term Paper Title	U.S. Government Budget
# of Words	2586
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	10.34

U.S. Government Budget

As many Federal departments and agencies lurch into an era of running
without funds, the leaders of both parties of Congress are spending less
and less time searching for a compromise to balance the budget, and more
and more time deciding how to use it to their advantage on the campaign
trail.  Meanwhile money is easily borrowed to pay for government
overhead. In an attempt to change this, on June 29, Congress voted in
favor of HConRes67 that called for a 7 year plan to balance the Federal
Budget by the year 2002 (Hager 1899). This would be done by
incorporating $894 billion in spending cuts by 2002, with a projected 7
year tax cut of $245 billion. If this plan were implemented, in the year
2002, the U.S. Government would have the first balanced budget since
1969.
There is doubt by citizens that a balanced budget will become reality.
A recent Gallop Poll from January, 1996 showed the budget as the #1
concern among taxpayers, but 4/5 of those interviewed said they doubt
the GOP will do the job (Holding 14). Meanwhile, an ABC poll from
November reported that over 70% of those polled disapprove of the
current performance by Congress, and most blamed politicians for failure
to take action (Cloud 3709). These accusations of failure to follow
through come with historical proof that Congress and Clinton have failed
to compromise and resolve the issue.  After all, current budget plans
are dependent on somewhat unrealistic predictions of avoiding such
catastrophes as recession, national disasters, etc., and include minor
loopholes. History has shown that every budget agreement that has failed
was too lax. One might remember the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings bill that
attempted to balance the budget, but left too many exemptions, and was
finally abandoned in 1990 (Weinberger 33).
So after a pain-staking trial for GOP Republicans to create, promote,
and pass their budget, as promised on campaign trail 94, Clinton
rejected the very bill he demanded.  This essentially brought the
federal budget back to square one. Clinton thought such a demand on
Republicans to produce a budget would produce inner-party quarrels and
cause the GOP to implode. Instead, they produced a fiscal budget that
passed both houses of Congress, only to be stalemated by a stubborn
Democratic President Clinton. Meanwhile, Clinton bounced back with a CBO
scored plan with lighter, less risky cuts to politically sensitive areas
like entitlements. Clinton’s plan also saved dollars for education and
did not include a tax increase, but most cuts would not take effect
until he is out of office, in the year 2001. Although Clinton is
sometimes criticized for producing a stalemate in budget talks, the
White House points out that the debt has gone down since Clinton took
office, with unemployment also falling. Republicans are quick to state
that Clinton originally increased taxes in 1993 and cut defense
programs, but his overall plan was for an increasing budget without
deficit reduction.
Startling Facts about the budget:
As of 1996, the national debt was at an all time high of $5 trillion
dollars, with interest running at a whopping $250 billion per year (Rau
M-1).  This equals out to an individual responsibility of more than
$50,000 per taxpayer. Nearly 90% of that debt has accumulated since
1970, and between 1980 and 1995, the debt grew by 500%. Currently, the
debt grows by more than $10,000 per second (Rau M-l), and at current
rates, a baby born in 1992 will pay 71% of his or her income in net
taxes.  At current rates, our government is about to reach its breaking
point.  If that’s not enough to scare a taxpayer, by 2002, 60% of
government spending will be for entitlements, and by 2012, these
programs are projected to take up all government revenue (Dentzer 32).
Not only economic development, but also family income is hurt by debt.
With the cost of living going up, it becomes harder to find a job.
According to the Concord Coalition, real wages peaked in 1973 and have
gone down ever since. If...

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