I Thought the Term 'Budget' Implied Monetary Restraint...

It's that time of year again, kiddies. President Bush rolled out his last Federal Government budget in office (and coincidentally, the tax-man is sniffing around too...coincidence?). As a relatively successful single person (READ: no dependents, no assets, NO deductions), I thought it would be an interesting exercise to examine where my mire duckets might go - I say 'might' because the President's Budget is his suggestion to Congress on how they should 'appropriate', or allocate our tax dollars. That's the technical term for "spending our money like drunken sailors on leave."

Wiki Link: Drunken Sailor

Web Link: Budget of the United States Government, FY '09

Highlights include:
*$3 billion less of a deficit than last year's request (running at negative $407 billion...that will somehow result in a $48B surplus in 3 years)

*$45.8 billion more in discretionary spending than Congress enacted in FY '08

*$36 billion in additional discretionary spending going to the Department of Defense alone (if they can keep me safe, I say go for it).

*Negligable differences +/- in other Agencies.

If you are an ordinary American, you probably don't have a clue what all this means. Time to go fishing:

Wiki Link: US Federal Budget


Wiki Link: US Budget Process

BLAST!#$% Why didn't the Schoolhouse Rock people do a song on the Federal Budget??? Well, they kind of did, in a sense. Don't be scared...Appropriations bills are actually similar to typical legislation, except slightly more technical.

Web Link: Refresher Course on the Legislative Process




"Am I sure? Let me check my notes here one more time. Yeah, it says here clearly: No, we're not." -- OMB Director Nussle, responded to a reporter's question about whether the administration, in making specific spending proposals in his FY09 budget, was guilty of the same earmarking practices it has criticized Congress for using.



Afterthoughts: Doesn't this guy look like this guy???

Believe it or not, one of them is a United States Senator who gets to weigh in on how tax dollars are spent, as he sits on 2 powerful Appropriations Subcommittees.

Web Link: Senator 'This Guy'

Not only do the previously mentioned pop culture icons look alike, but media reports indicate they may share some of the same, er, appetites too:

Web Link: New York Times Article

Wiki Link: Biography