2007 United States federal budget

The budget of the United States government for fiscal year 2007 was produced through a budget process involving both the legislative and executive branches of the federal government. While the Congress has the constitutional "power of the purse," the President and his appointees play a major role in budget deliberations. Since 1976, the federal fiscal year has started on October 1 of each year.

Overview of the Budget Process

The President, according to the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, must submit a budget to Congress each year. In its current form, federal budget legislation law (31 U.S.C. 1105(a)) specifies that the President submit a budget between the first Monday in January and the first Monday in February. In recent times, the President's budget submission, entitled "Budget of the U.S. Government", has been issued in the first week of February. Thus, President George W. Bush submitted the FY2007 budget in February 2006. The President's budget submission, along with supporting documents and historical budget data, can be found at the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) [http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/ website] . The President's budget contains detailed information on spending and revenue proposals, along with policy proposals and initiatives with significant budgetary implications.

Each year in March, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) publishes an analysis of the President's budget proposals. CBO budget report and other publications can be found at the CBO's [http://www.cbo.gov/ website] . CBO computes a current law baseline projection that is intended to estimate what federal spending and revenues would be in the absence of new legislation for the current fiscal year and for the coming 10 fiscal years.

The House and Senate Budget Committees begin consideration of President's budget proposals in February and March. Other committees with budgetary responsibilities submit requests and estimates to the Budget committees during this time. The Budget committees each submit a budget resolution by April 1. The House and Senate each consider those budget resolutions and are expected to pass them, possibly with amendments, by April 15. Budget resolutions specify funding levels for appropriations committees and subcommittees.

Appropriations committees, starting with allocations in the budget resolution, put together appropriations bills, which may be considered in the House after May 15. Once appropriations committees pass their bills, they are considered by the House and Senate. A conference committee is typically required to resolve differences between House and Senate bills. Once a conference bill has passed both chambers of Congress, it is sent to the President, who may sign the bill or veto. If he signs, the bill becomes law. Otherwise, Congress must pass another bill to avoid a shutdown of at least part of the federal government.

In recent years, Congress has not passed all of the appropriations bills before the start of the fiscal year. Congress has then enacted Continuing Resolutions, that provide for the temporary funding of government operations.

Total receipts

Receipts for fiscal year 2007 were $2.4 trillion.FY2007 on-budget receipts were $1.7 trillion.FY2007 off-budget receipts were $608 billion.Off-budget receipts include Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes, as well as the net profit or loss of the U.S. Postal Service.

*$1.1 trillion - Individual income tax
*$869.6 billion - Social Security and other payroll taxes
*$370.2 billion - Corporate income tax
*$65.1 billion - Excise taxes
*$26.0 billion - Customs duties
*$26.0 billion - Estate and gift taxes
*$47.2 billion - OtherSource: preliminary FY2007 year-end estimate from the U.S. Treasury Dept.

The IRS estimated that there were about $345 billion in uncollected taxes, which is sometimes referred to as the "tax gap.". [$345B tax g
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15111003 Random Tax Audits Return to the IRS] , 9 Oct 2007, Morning Edition.]

Total spending

The President's actual budget for 2007 totals $2.8 trillion. Percentages in parentheses indicate percentage change compared to 2006. This budget request is broken down by the following expenditures:
*$586.1 billion (+7.0%) - Social Security
*$548.8 billion (+9.0%) - Defense [ [http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/browse.html "The President's Budget of the United States Government," FY 1996 -- present] ]
*$394.5 billion (+12.4%) - Medicare
*$294.0 billion (+2.0%) - Unemployment and welfare
*$276.4 billion (+2.9%) - Medicaid and other health related
*$243.7 billion (+13.4%) - Interest on debt
*$89.9 billion (+1.3%) - Education and training
*$76.9 billion (+8.1%) - Transportation
*$72.6 billion (+5.8%) - Veterans' benefits
*$43.5 billion (+9.2%) - Administration of justice
*$33.1 billion (+5.7%) - Natural resources and environment
*$32.5 billion (+15.4%) - Foreign affairs
*$27.0 billion (+3.7%) - Agriculture
*$26.8 billion (+28.7%) - Community and regional development
*$25.0 billion (+4.0%) - Science and technology
*$23.5 billion (+0.8%) - Energy
*$20.1 billion (+11.4%) - General government

Much of the costs of the Iraq war and the Afghanistan war until FY2008 have been funded through supplemental appropriations or emergency supplemental appropriations, which are treated differently than regular appropriations bills. Senior congressional leaders have contended that those war costs, as much as possible, should go through the regular budget process, which provides for greater transparency.Determining the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is complex. CBO has estimated that "war-related defense activities" in 2007 were "roughly $115 billion." (CBO, The Budget and Economic Outlook: An Update, August 2007, Box 1-1, available at )See Below for total defense spending.

2007 Total Military Budget

The total requested military budget of the United States for 2007 was $699 billion.

U.S. Military Budget [ [http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2008/defense.html Department of Defense Budget] - OMB FY 2008 President's Budget Charts and Tables] - DoD Base Spending: The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has the single largest budget of any government agency in the discretionary budget. This department is responsible for four (4) separate branches of the United States Military - the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. This includes the cost of base administration, pay for military members, and the costs of repairing and procuring equipment.Last year (FY 2006), Defense Department base budget expenditures were $411 billion, nearly half of net discretionary spending. This year (FY 2007), it has increased to $430 billion, still about half.Next year (FY 2008), it is projected to grow to $481 billion, or 52%. This budget is the basic level needed to keep the DoD in readiness.

U.S. Military Budget - War on Terror Base Spending : The War on Terror (WoT) incurs additional costs by other departments. When added to the DoD base spending, the amount comes to: $474 billion in FY 2006, which is 56% of net discretionary spending, $505 billion in FY 2007, and$554 billion in FY 2008, nearly 60% of discretionary spending.

FY 2006 Supplemental Funding : The Defense Department base budget also does not include “one time only” costs attributable to the War on Terror, which are submitted as Supplemental Funding. In FY 2006, an additional $153 billion in Supplemental Funding was added to the base budget - the War on Terror received $120 billion, while $33 billion went primarily for Hurricane Katrina. As a result, 60% of last year's discretionary spending went to DoD/WoT.

FY 2007 Supplemental Funding : For FY 2007, $70 billion has already been approved, while the President’s FY 2008 Budget requests an additional $102 billion. If approved by Congress, total FY 2007 spending for DoD/WoT would be $673 billion, or 64% of the net discretionary budget.FY 2008 Budget Proposal : For FY 2008, the President has requested the following: The Defense Department Base Budget - $481 billion. WoT(non-DoD) Base Budget - $73 billion. Supplemental Funding for WoT - $145 billion.Total requested Dod/WoT spending is $699 billion, or 65% of total net Discretionary spending.

References

External links

* [http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/browse.html "The President's Budget of the United States Government," FY 1996 -- present]