Questions tagged [budget]
An estimate of costs, revenues, and resources over a specified period, reflecting a reading of future financial conditions and goals
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Can Congress really raise or suspend the debt ceiling through budget reconciliation with a simple majority in the Senate?
Some background info here
The federal debt ceiling has currently been suspended until August 1.
If this year so far is any indication, Senate Republicans will do everything possible to use a debt-...
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How can the U.S. government ensure that the black budget is spent appropriately?
The black budget is a secret budget for covert operation. How can the U.S. government ensure that the money is spent appropriately and people don't spend it for personal reasons or other reasons not ...
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How is Switzerland able to maintain low tax levels?
Looking at the countries with the lowest tax rate we can see many countries that derive their riches from oil supplies and thus can afford to have a low income tax rate and a low VAT rate. But there ...
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What parts of Biden’s proposals could be eligible for budget reconciliation?
President Biden addressed a joint session of congress on April 29 and proposed vast new federal social programs such as free community college and subsidized childcare for low-income and middle-class ...
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336 views
How are UK devolved nation’s budget deficits funded?
The Scottish Government has tax raising powers and, over the past several years, expanded spending powers too.
However, I’m wondering how budget deficits for these devolved administrations are funded. ...
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How does one determine the source of funds (money) for a government expenditure?
When a government decides to spend money, they have 3 primary choices (please correct me if I'm mistaken):
Spend money they already have (from taxes)
Borrow money (from people/organizations within ...
asked Mar 11 at 16:39
RockPaperLz- Mask it or Casket
1,2841 gold badge12 silver badges24 bronze badges
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2answers
393 views
What is the impact of a minimum wage increase on the Biden 1.9 T dollar Covid Relief Proposal
The Biden administration has proposed a Covid relief package that would cost 1.9 trillion dollars. Some politicians are very resistant to the inclusion of a increase in minimum wage to 15.00 dollars ...
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Why was the Union Budget presented in the Lok Sabha (lower house) instead of the Rajya Sabha (upper house)?
Why was the Union Budget presented in the Lok Sabha (lower house) instead of the Rajya Sabha (upper house)?
Recently The Union Budget of India for 2021–2022 was presented by the Finance Minister, ...
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Is the COVID relief package the same legislation as the omnibus bill?
There is a lot of news about the $900 billion COVID relief package passed by Congress on 12/21/2020. There is less news about the $1.4 trillion spending bill that was passed. However, a lot of people ...
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What is the domestic background to the new Swedish defense budget?
Sweden's new defense measures include considerable increases in military capacity for the entirety of their Armed Forces. What are the stances of the main parties on this policy (beyond an agreement ...
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What happens if there's a veto on the European Union budget?
Recently Hungary and Poland vetoed (or formally just threaten to use a veto) on the EU budget (see for example here). What happens in 2021 if there's no accepted budget? The referred article mentions ...
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What is the total cost of the administration of the US 2020 presidential election?
The US 2020 presidential election seems to be a costly enterprise to the taxpayers. What is the total cost of the administration of the US 2020 presidential election?
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Why does Germany have such a rather small defense budget?
This article deals with Germany’s Armed Forces status in the context of Trump's decision to reduce US troops stationed in Germany.
Besides the main topic, the article also mentions that Germany spends ...
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1answer
124 views
Does the US account for inter-generational equity/imbalances when producing fiscal policy?
There are many studies concerned with how various generations subsidize each other, usually assuming current laws hold for all future generations. Do any government agencies (like CBO, the Treasury, ...
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Do any nations have in place formal mechanisms to “save in good years/spend in bad years”?
One tenet of Keynesian economics is that a government can improve long term economic efficiency, and individual well-being, by deficit spending during recessions.
Some examples of that might be:
US ...
asked May 27 '20 at 18:09
Italian Philosophers 4 Monica
27k7 gold badges73 silver badges106 bronze badges
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1answer
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On what kind of schedule does the US make payments to the WHO?
I've been wondering whether Trump's cutting of funds to the WHO has had any practical effect on the WHO's budget so far. Basically, how often does the US disburse funds to the WHO? Is it annually, ...
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125 views
What explains the large year-to-year variation in US voluntary contributions to the WHO?
The US is usually the largest contributor to the WHO's budget (with some odd year exception when the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation gave a bit more than the US government.)
But nonetheless, there ...
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1answer
349 views
What prevented the Tampon Tax from being abolished?
Today, in his first Budget speech, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, has announced that "now that we have left the European Union", the Tampon Tax - the controversial imposition of VAT on ...
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Why deliberate NASA authorization bills if NASA doesn't need them?
Spacenews.com's The sound and fury over a NASA authorization bill says that a NASA authorization bill isn't required and most years the US Congress doesn't pass one.
Question: If that's so, then what ...
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2answers
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What are the current House's bill reconciliation rules regarding deficit increases?
According to The Center on Budget and Policy page, "Introduction to Budget 'Reconciliation'":
When Republicans took the House in 2011, they replaced the House rule with one that placed no ...
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1answer
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Why is the British Chancellor allowed to drink alcohol in the House of Commons chamber?
On the parliament.uk site's information about the annual budget, it describes the tradition of "Despatch box drinks", where the Chancellor is afforded the privilege to drink alcohol at the despatch ...
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How does the Barnett Formula work?
I've often heard the Barnett Formula come up in debates regarding the topic of Scottish independence, and I know it relates in some way to the mechanism used to determine the amount of money allocated ...
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223 views
Why are US budget implications estimated “over 10 years”?
The federal budget in the US is proposed and approved annually. However, analysts and commentators very often explain budgetary measures "will cost X USD over 10 years" or "cuts program P by X USD ...
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Graph of US military spending a percentage of GDP
I found a (North America proxy) graph of US military spending in absolute real terms (i.e. adjusted for inflation).
As you can see, in absolute terms, even adjusting for inflation, the US has spent ...
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0answers
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Do bipartisan/cohabitation budgets widen the deficit more than one-party budgets?
I've read in a paper that I can't find araing right now that supermajority requirements (in state budgets) tend increase deficit spending because more "pork barrel" interest are included.
If we ...
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Is there a (detailed) comparison of what the White House requested and what Congress approved for the HHS for FY2020?
To give you an idea what I'm looking for, I found such a comparison for science:
I'm looking for a similar graph/comparison for the HHS, which includes the NIH, FDA, CDC, SAMHSA, Medicare & ...
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392 views
Why was the budget for the Center of Disease Control being cut drastically?
Right now, the CDC - according to The Trust for America's Health (TFAH)- says that the Center of Disease Control is underfunded by $4.5 billion and an act passed on December 22, 2017 cut $750 million ...
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1answer
103 views
State government debt in India
I had a look at the Delhi Government Budget for the year 2019-20 (see here: http://prsindia.org/parliamenttrack/budgets/delhi-budget-analysis-2019-20), and was wondering about the composition of the ...
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2answers
136 views
What countries require a supermajority for budget approval?
A few US states require or required a supermajority in the legislature to pass the annual budget. The issue is somewhat complicated by the fact that in some states some budgetary items/issues require ...
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Why does California spend so much on healthcare?
Taking a look at the California State budget, one can see that 46% of their taxpayers' money goes towards healthcare costs. But why is this the case? Isn't healthcare generally a federal concern, with ...
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How does the government purchase things?
After congress passes a budget and the president signs it, how are the funds acquired and how are they spent? Let's use the example: The defense budget has line items for the Department of Defense to ...
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191 views
UK Private Sector Receipts from the EU
The UK's membership fee in 2018 according to full fact goes from a £17bn gross payment, less rebate and public sector spending to a £9bn net payment.
Specifically, this image shows this does not ...
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What is the UK equivalent of the American Congressional Budget Office?
Is there any body in the UK that parallels the American Congressional Budget Office? One that could give a best estimate of the costs of various Brexit options? Obviously it’s very complex and the ...
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Where does the provincial budget of Ontario exhibit its spending on the arts, culture, tourism?
My grandparents read Here's everything the Doug Ford government cut in its first year in office | National Observer, but this exhibits only the differences, not the old and new values. Where can they ...
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3answers
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Why does the US federal debt increase by more than the US deficit each year?
I was looking through the Historical Tables from the Office of Management and Budget (https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/historical-tables/). I noticed that each year the debt increases by a different ...
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4answers
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How did the European Union reach the figure of 3% as a maximum allowed deficit?
According to Wikipedia's article about Stability and Growth Pact:
The fiscal discipline is ensured by the SGP by requiring each Member
State, to implement a fiscal policy aiming for the country ...
40
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7answers
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Why does the U.S military use mercenaries?
With a defense budget now totaling ~686-billion dollars a year – which is about the size of the next 8 largest defense budgets combined (figure) – why does the U.S military see the need to ...
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1answer
162 views
Why did 1 US state introduce the line-item veto between 1984 and 2008?
On January 25, 1984 Ronald Reagan said
Some 43 of our 50 States grant their Governors the right to veto individual items in appropriation bills without having to veto the entire bill.
In 2008, 44 ...
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1answer
98 views
How is the budget planned for agencies of the European Union?
From the European Commission - Fact Sheet titled European Agenda on Migration: Securing Europe's External Borders and dated 15 December 2015, we see the sentence
Today's proposals will entail a ...
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1answer
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Who in the US actually “sends” astronauts to the Moon? The executive or the legislative branch?
The sources cited in this question and in the news mention that in a recent speech to the US space council, vice president Pence announced that NASA should land astronauts on the south pole of the ...
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3answers
999 views
Why does France have systematic difficulties in obtaining a budget deficit below 3%?
According to this article France plans for a budget deficit slightly over the EU allowed limit of 3%:
France's budget deficit is likely to overshoot the European Union's
limit of 3 percent of GDP ...
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2answers
303 views
What happens to the money during a government shutdown?
In the US, which part of the government is holding the money due to federal employees?
During a government shutdown, what happens to this money? Is it reinvested through short-term lending?
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1answer
236 views
What is the next portion of the US government that will be shutdown?
Currently, it appears that around 25% of the US government is shutdown. To the best of my understanding, this is because different departments funding expires at different times. What does the ...
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2answers
328 views
Why doesn't funding for U.S. government services simply continue at its previous level if a new budget can't be passed?
In the United States, a failure to pass a budget for the new fiscal year results in a government shutdown, during which all government agencies lose funding except those which are funded through other ...
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1answer
269 views
Budget reconciliation for border wall?
Could Congress have used budget reconciliation to fund a border wall and avoid the current shutdown?
2
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1answer
182 views
Why don't teachers unions lobby to pay off unfunded pension liabilties?
With a lot of states having issues regarding unfunded teachers pensions, I was wondering why it doesn't ever appear to be a main point of their lobbying/protesting/striking. Wouldn't it be in their ...
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Is there a list of all or major US federal expenditures that are funded specially?
Most expenditures in US budget are funded out of a general budget pool (e.g., you do not have a direct purposeful correspondence between source of funding, and a budget expenditure).
There are ...
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Are there any details as to where the $5,710,357,000 to fund part of Trump's wall would come from?
Last month the House of Representatives passed a temporary spending bill relating to Trump's border wall, which I believe is the following:
Sec. 141. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act,...
2
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1answer
107 views
PAYGO rules vs the PAYGO act of 2010
Following the recent uproar over the passing of PAYGO rules by the House of Representatives' democratic majority, I heard it said that "PAYGO rules" are necessary to waive the effect of the "PAYGO law"...
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1answer
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Long term, does Trump's wall cost more than it saves per year?
One of the biggest areas of disagreement on the wall is its cost efficiency.
Republicans claim it will save us money by preventing the need to support illegal immigrants who enter the US, while ...
