so much for hope and change

[luckytxn 2,265]

Guess some don't realize that the president just signs a bill handed to him or vetos it. He can try to ask for things and congress will listen but it is congress that makes and passes a budget.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

Guess some don't realize that the president just signs a bill handed to him or vetos it. He can try to ask for things and congress will listen but it is congress that makes and passes a budget.

The President and Congress both play major roles in developing the Federal

budget.

The President’s Budget

The law specifies that, by the first Monday in February, the President submit

to Congress his proposed Federal budget for the next fiscal year, which

begins October 1.

In some years, it is not possible for the President to adhere to the normal

schedule. The law does not require an outgoing President to transmit a

budget, and it is impractical for an incoming President to complete a budget

within a few days of taking office. President George W. Bush submitted a

summary budget plan, A Blueprint for New Beginnings—A Responsible

Budget for America's Priorities, to Congress on February 28, 2001.

President Bush’s detailed budget—which includes a main book and several

accompanying books1—covers thousands of pages and provides an

abundance of information. These books, which were submitted in April

2001, allow people from all walks of life to examine the budget from many

different perspectives.

Action in Congress

Congress first passes a “budget resolution”—a framework within which the

Members will make their decisions about spending and taxes. It includes

targets for total spending, total revenues, and the surplus or deficit, and

allocations within the spending target for the two types of spending—

discretionary and mandatory—explained below.

• Discretionary spending, which accounts for one-third of all Federal

spending, is what the President and Congress must decide to spend for the

next year through the 13 annual appropriations bills. It includes money for

such activities as the FBI and the Coast Guard, for housing and education,

for space exploration and highway construction, and for defense and foreign

aid.

• Mandatory spending, which accounts for two-thirds of all spending, is

authorized by permanent laws, not by the 13 annual appropriations bills. It

includes entitlements—such as Social Security, Medicare, veterans’ benefits,

and Food Stamps—through which individuals receive benefits because they

are eligible based on their age, income, or other criteria. It also includes

interest on the national debt, which the Government pays to individuals and

institutions that hold Treasury bonds and other Government securities. The

President and Congress can change the law in order to change the spending

on entitlements and other mandatory programs—but they don’t have to.

Think of it this way: For discretionary programs, Congress and the President

must act each year to provide spending authority. For mandatory programs,

they may act to change the spending that current laws require.

Currently, the law imposes limits, or “caps,” through 2002 on annual

discretionary spending. The budget proposes to revise these caps beginning in

2001 to recognize changing fiscal conditions, and extend the caps at

appropriate levels through 2006. Within the cap, however, the President and

Congress can, and often do, change the spending levels from year to year for

the thousands of individual Federal spending programs.

In addition, the law requires that legislation that would raise mandatory

spending or lower revenues—compared to existing law—be offset by spending

cuts or revenue increases. This requirement, called “pay-as-you-go,” or

PAYGO, is designed to prevent new legislation from reducing the surplus or

increasing the deficit. The budget also proposes extending the PAYGO system.

Once Congress passes the budget resolution, it turns its attention to passing

the 13 annual appropriations bills and, if it chooses, “authorizing” bills to

change the laws governing mandatory spending and revenues.

Congress begins by examining the President’s budget in detail. Scores of

committees and subcommittees hold hearings on proposals under their

jurisdiction. The House and Senate Armed Services Authorizing Committees,

and the Defense and Military Construction Subcommittees of the

Appropriations Committees, for instance, hold hearings on the President’s

defense plan. To consider the budget’s proposed changes in taxes, the House

Ways and Means and the Senate Finance Committees will hold hearings. The

Budget Director, Cabinet officers, and other Administration officials work with

Congress as it accepts some of the President’s proposals, rejects others, and

changes still others. Congressional rules require that these committees and

subcommittees take actions that are consistent with the budget resolution.

If you read through the President’s budget, the budget resolution, or the

appropriations or authorizing bills that Congress drafts, you will notice that

the Government measures spending in two ways—”budget authority” and

“outlays.”

Budget authority (or BA) is what the law authorizes the Federal Government

to spend for certain programs, projects, or activities. What the Government

actually spends in a particular year, however, is an outlay. To see the

difference, consider what happens when the Government decides to build a

space exploration system.

The President and Congress may agree to spend $1 billion for the space

system. Congress appropriates $1 billion in BA. But the system may take 10

years to build. Thus, the Government may spend $100 million in outlays in

the first year to begin construction and the remaining $900 million over the

next nine years as construction continues.

Edited November 3, 2010 by Sousuke

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

no, you're ignorant for not looking at all the details under the shiny night skyline.

Not everything is about the "President."

At the end of the day it takes a lot of people to tango.

1981-1993 - Repub Pres - Dem Congress

1993-1994 - Dem Pres - Dem Congress

1995-2000 - Dem Pres - Repub Congress

2001-2006 - Repub Pres - Repub Congress

2007-2008 - Repub Pres - Dem Congress

2009-2010 - Dem Pres - Dem Congress

2011-???? - Dem Pres - Repub House/Simple Majority Dem Senate

note the bolded section is when a balanced budget was obtained.

Now when you're ready not to be some party hack who's ignorant of all the facts out there, then we'll talk.

You have to admit though the final responsibility is on the President regarding the budget unless the veto can be over come. As the sign on Truman's desk used to say "The buck stops here".

Now there is a VERY VERY VERY important element to that period you highlighted. It was the era of the line item veto. IMO it was key to a balanced budget in that extra pork that was tagged on the end of bills could be cut, but the Supreme Court killed it.

Whats funny too was it was supported by both sides of the aisle.