AP United States Government and Politics Chapter 13

budget

a policy document allocating burdens (taxes) and benefits (expenditures)

deficit

an excess of federal expenditures over federal revenues

expenditures

government spending major areas of federal spending are social services and national defense

revenue

the financial resources of the government. the individual income tax and social security tax are two major sources of the federal government revenue

income tax

shares of individual wages and corporate revenues collected by the government. the 16th amendment explicitly authorized congress to levy tax on income

16th amendment

the constitutional amendment adopted in 1913 that explicitly permitted congress to levy an income tax

national debt

all the money borrowed by the federal government over the years and still outstanding. today the national debt is about 17.5 million

tax expenditures

revenue losses that result from special exemptions, exclusions, or deduction allowed by federal tax law

Social Security Tax

a 1935 law intended to provide a minimal level of sustenance to older americans and thus save them from poverty

medicare

a program added to the social security system in 1965 that provides health insurance for the elderly, covering hospitalization, doctor fees, and other health expenses

incrementalism

a description of the budget process in which the best predictor of this year’s budget is last year’s budget plus a little more (an increment)

uncontrollable expenditures

expenditures that are determined by how many eligible beneficiaries there are for a program or by previous obligations of the gov. and that congress therefore cannot easily control

entitlement

policies for which congress has obligated itself to pay x level of benefits to y numbers of recipients. social security benefits are an example

Congressional budget office

advises congress on the probable consequences of its descions, forecasts revenue, and is a counterweight to the president’s office of management and budget

budget resolution

a resolution binding congress to a total expenditures level, supposedly the bottom line for all federal spending for all programs

reconciliation

a congressional process through which program authorizations are revised to achieve required savings. its usually also includes tax or other revenue adjustments

authorization bill

an act of congress that establishes, congress that establishes, continues, or changes a discretionary gov program or an entitlement. it specifies program goals and max expenditures or discretionary programs

continuing resolution

when congress cannot reach agreement and pass appropriations bills, these resolutions allow agencies to spend at the level of the previous year