Congress and Economic Policy

For Thursday, Thurber, ch. 11

Constitutional Provisions

All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other Bills.”
— U.S. Constitution, Article I, section 7, clause 1

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;

-- U.S. Constitution, Article I, section 8, clause 12

“No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.”
— U.S. Constitution, Article I, section 9, clause 7

What follows would baffle a Martian.

Authorization

• Reauthorization as a form of oversight
• Lapsed authorizations:

Appropriation

• Also a form of oversight 

• Budget Authority
• Outlay
• Continuing resolutions

"The Budget Process" and key documents:

• The president's budget
• CBO reports

Revenue Bills and RECONCILIATION (Davidson 429-430)

Revenues -- Where the money comes from:

Revenues, by Category

Percentage of Gross Domestic Product

The federal tax system is more progressive than most people realize: 

Average Federal Tax Rates, by Income Group, 1979 to 2019

 

Average Federal Tax Rates, by Tax Source, 2019

Percent

Tax expenditures

Outlays -- Where the money goes:

Outlays, by Category

Percentage of GDP

CBPP

New @AP poll neatly captures the paradox of budget politics. Americans say abstractly the government should cut spending, but show them the list of things it actually spends money on and they say nice, spend more on that.https://t.co/lSYaIJjxYY pic.twitter.com/2J9J5fbLwe

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) March 29, 2023

Budget tables:  function, subfunction, agency

THE DEBT LIMIT

  What happens if the US government defaults on the federal debt?

CBS poll founds that people oppose raising the debt limit -- until they find out what it means.