How much did the U.S. government spend in FY (fiscal year) 2023?
Critical Analysis
Find answers to the following questions using the visual above, any links below, your big brain, and your knowledge of American government and politics:
How much money did the U.S. federal government bring in (total revenue) in Fiscal Year 2023?
How much money did the U.S. federal government spend in Fiscal Year 2023?
Medicare, Social Security, defense and veterans, transfers to states, interest on the debt, and aid to individuals such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and refundable tax credits accounted for 90% of spending. What most surprises you about this information and the visual above?
When you spend more than you have this is called a deficit. Considering that the government spent $6.16 trillion but only brought in $4.47 trillion what was the approximate U.S. federal government deficit for FY 2023?
The national (federal) government spent $18,406 per person in FY 2023. What was the biggest overall area of spending for the U.S. government?
The amount of spending as shown in the visual above happened during a time of a divided government with a Democratic President, Democratic Senate, and Republican House of Representatives. Currently the House and the Senate are both controlled by Republicans, the same party as the president. What do you think will happen to the level of spending under a unified (same party in Congress and White House) government?
The budget planning begins a year before the budget is to go into effect. How does the following process illustrate the concept of checks and balances?
Federal agencies create budget requests and submit them to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
OMB refers to the agencies’ requests as it develops the budget proposal for the president.
The president submits the budget proposal to Congress early the next year.
Proposed funding is divided among 12 subcommittees, which hold hearings. Each is responsible for funding for different government functions such as defense spending or energy and water.
The House and Senate create their own budget resolutions, which must be negotiated and merged. Both houses must pass a single version of each funding bill.
Congress sends the approved funding bills to the president to sign or veto.
If we had a unitary system all government taxing and spending would happen only at the national level. But we have a federal system which means that we have taxing and spending at the national, state, and local level. How does this federal system guard against tyranny?
A budget is considered balanced when spending and revenue are roughly the same. The last time the U.S. budget was balanced was in 2001. To balance the budget the government needs to spend less or to tax more - or do both. Explain whether, to balance the budget you would advocate limiting federal government spending or raising government revenue by taxing more?
A student named Jellybean said, “The Framers would be rolling in their graves if they knew how much the government was spending.” After I explained that ghosts don’t roll as much as they float, Jellybean calmed down a bit. In what way is the system that was created by the Constitution responsible for the spending shown above?
Write and Discuss
Take ten minutes to write about the question at the top of the page and then discuss with your classmates.
Act on your Learning
Tweet President Trump @realDonaldTrump and let him know what you think about deficit spending (when the government spends more money than it has).
Get Creative
If American government spending were a kind of boyfriend or girlfriend, what would it be?
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