Verified Document

Budget Cycle Of The U.S. Term Paper

S. Government to make future or immediate monetary outlays. In the second subcomponent, the reporting and outlay phase lasts for the duration until the funds are canceled or until the funds are totally disbursed. One should note that these cancellations are in no way connected with cancellations that are connected with budget reductions. These are a separate congressional activity (ibid). Sometimes spending adjustments are needed during the fiscal year. They may require special reporting and approval procedures by both Congress and OMB. In some instances, an agency can request supplemental funding by submitting a request to the Congress. Mostly, the departments and agencies are required to manage their funds according to their available resources and have only a limited monitoring by the OMB and the Congress during this particular phase of the budget process (Government Printing Office, 29-30).

What is the effect of this system in theory as well as in practice? B. Guy Peters feels that the repetitive nature of the budget cycle is very important; creating more transparency for the agency officials involved who might behave very differently if the system was not configured in such a way (Peters, 2004, 148). This is all very fine in theory, but may translate very differently in practice

However, what happens when you have a budget for a classified or "black" project? Increasingly, this has become the reality of increasing sections of the U.S. intelligence and defense budgets since September 11, 2001. This is a question raised in an insightful article in Wired Magazine by author Noah Schachtman. For instance in the fiscal 2010 federal budget, the Pentagon requested $50 billion for classified project. This represented a three percent increase over the previous fiscal year. For aficionados of transparent government, this is a nightmare. Usually, such appropriations will end up in the "research" section of a budget and will consist of a line of zeros (Schachtman, 2009). Of course, Congressional appropriations committees in both the Senate and the House of Representatives have access to this, but they can not divulge the contents to their constituents at home. Certainly, an expert could do so. The expenses for a defense system item tell...

(Salla, 2003).
In this paper, we have examined the phases of the Federal government and how it in theory should provide for transparent, representative government where Congressional constituents can see what is being spent and their representatives in Congress can have control over this process. However, in reality, this can become complex in the sheer size and magnitude of the Federal government budget and budget cycle, especially with regard to "black" budget in defense and intelligence budgets. In the opinion of this author, it is precisely these "black" budgets that present the most unique challenge to the American democratic structure. A top priority for public policy makers must be to develop new strategies to deal with this growing government sector and to increase Congressional control over it so it does not get out of the hands of the American people who pay for it.

Works Cited

Government Printing Office, the budget cycle. Washington, DC: GPO. Retrieved

from http://www.gpoaccess.gov/serialset/cdocuments/sd109-5/25-30.pdf.

Keith, Robert. U.S. Congress, Congressional Research Service. (2008). Introduction to the federal budget process (CRS Publication No. 98-721 ). Washington DC: Congressional Research Service. Retrieved from http://budget.house.gov/crs-reports/98-721.pdf.

Keith, Robert. U.S. Congress, Congressional Research Service. (2008). Suspension of budget enforcement procedures (CRS Publication No. RL31068). Washington, D.C.: Congressional Research Service. Retrieved from http://www.policyarchive.org/handle/10207/.

Peters, B. Guy. American public policy: promise and performance. 6th ed. Washington,

D.C.: CQ Press, 2004. Print.

Salla, Michael E. (2003, Nov 23). The black budget report: an investigation into the cia's 'black budget' and the second manhattan project . Retrieved from http://www1.american.edu/salla/Articles/BB-CIA.htm

Schachtman, Noah. (2009, May 7). Pentagon's black budget grows to more than $50

billion . Wired, Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/05/pentagons-black-budget-grows-to-more-than-50-billion/

Sources used in this document:
Works Cited

Government Printing Office, the budget cycle. Washington, DC: GPO. Retrieved

from http://www.gpoaccess.gov/serialset/cdocuments/sd109-5/25-30.pdf.

Keith, Robert. U.S. Congress, Congressional Research Service. (2008). Introduction to the federal budget process (CRS Publication No. 98-721 ). Washington DC: Congressional Research Service. Retrieved from http://budget.house.gov/crs-reports/98-721.pdf.

Keith, Robert. U.S. Congress, Congressional Research Service. (2008). Suspension of budget enforcement procedures (CRS Publication No. RL31068). Washington, D.C.: Congressional Research Service. Retrieved from http://www.policyarchive.org/handle/10207/.
Salla, Michael E. (2003, Nov 23). The black budget report: an investigation into the cia's 'black budget' and the second manhattan project . Retrieved from http://www1.american.edu/salla/Articles/BB-CIA.htm
billion . Wired, Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/05/pentagons-black-budget-grows-to-more-than-50-billion/
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

U.S. Deficit to Understand the
Words: 724 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

S. National Debt Clock, 2011). Too, sometimes when recession hits, deficits rise, and with less economic activity in progressive economies that count on economic activity, deficit spending must occur in order to continue to provide needed goods and services. There are two major factors at work within the U.S. economy, though -- and in essence the global economy since fiscal policies are so tied together in the modern age. Deficit spending

U.S. Airways Conflict Between Delivering Short-Term Earnings Vs....
Words: 1004 Length: 3 Document Type: Term Paper

U.S. Airways Conflict between Delivering Short-term Earnings Vs Long-Term Value Creation For any company to be able to provide short-term profits short-term thinking, budgeting and planning is required. On the other hand short-term business decisions are often unable to support the long-term viability of the business leading to heavy losses. This conflict of interest in companies like U.S. Airways is common were the company is responsible to shareholders and fund managers. To be able

U.S. Housing Market Boom to
Words: 5097 Length: 15 Document Type: Research Paper

(Der Hovanesian, 2010) Increased Promotion of Discounted mortgages. The way that subprime lending practices, and some call predatory lending practices affect the housing market has yet to be realized on such a large scale, as these tactics have always been carefully controlled by lending institutions, due in large part to their historical long-range view. Subprime lending on the other hand is fundamentally not a long-term view practice; it is a short-term

U.S. Macroeconomy Forecast GDP 2010/2011
Words: 3172 Length: 12 Document Type: Term Paper

The U.S. economy is currently downshifting. Real GDP appears to be growing nearly 2% annualized -- at most -- in the current quarter. This rate is down from 3% during the first half of 2010 (before impending downward revisions), and 4% during the second half of 2009. Weakening support from the monetary and fiscal stimulus, the fading inventory rotation in manufacturing, and the consequences from Europe's debt crisis are an

U.S. Economy Evaluating the Current State of
Words: 1712 Length: 5 Document Type: Essay

U.S. Economy Evaluating the current state of the United States economy Although many are of the opinion that the recession that the globe was forced into in 2008 is finally uplifting and signs of economic revival can be witnessed. The resulting high levels of debt and unemployment from the recession had dragged many countries, especially the United States in to a state of economic turmoil. In order to reverse the effect

World War 2 Until the Modern Time in the U.S.
Words: 1514 Length: 5 Document Type: Term Paper

Discrimination in U.S. There are people still alive today who remember Jim Crow laws. Half a century ago, segregation of drinking fountains, public restrooms, public buses, and public schools was still legal. Fifty years ago blacks in many states could not make a living except to work in jobs that resembled slavery in their wages and work conditions. The Civil Rights movement ostensibly changed everything. Yet decades of political correctness and

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now