Throughout history there has been much concern over issues regarding the national debt and
government spending. The United States has had its ups and downs with the national debt and the
balancing of the budget. As a multitude of changes have been made to improve the budget system many
believe that too much control over the budget is vested with the president and the executive branch. While
the Congressional Budget and Reform Act of 1974 awarded Congress added power and influence in
response to this concern over the budget process, the president still has an advantage in the budgetary
process.
The budget process begins with the formulation of the president’s budget or executive
preparation, in which all agencies are required to submit their budget requests to the president. The
Office of Management and Budget(OMB) which is the largest office within the Executive Office of the
President administers instructions, policy guidance, and tentative budget ceilings to help facilitate
departments and agencies fabricate their budget requests. These budget requests are then reviewed and
overhauled by the OMB in conformance to the directives from the president. Agencies in disagreement
with the OMB’s adjustments have the option of appealing to the president in which the president usually
concurs with the OMB. The president then sends the budget to Congress which communicates the
president’s discretions and priorities on issues regarding matters of overall size, possible effects on the
economy, and allocation of funds among major agencies and programs. (Anderson, 2006) The budget proposal also includes volumes of supporting information intended to persuade Congress of the necessity and value of the budget ...
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...ning to the growth or demise of the United States. Each process allows the president and
Congress to retain both advantages and hindrances as checks and balances prevent the abuse of power and
intrusion by government on individual liberties. Although the president and executive offices hold
greater influence in the budget process, Congress has contingencies to assist legislature in obtaining its
goals. The president should continue to enjoy leverage in the budget process as he must ensure the
movement and progression of the country’s goals and priorities by acting as a facilitator between political
parties.
Works Cited
Anderson, J. (2006). Public policymaking. Belmont, CA: Wabsworth.
Library of Congress, Law Library of Congress. (2010). Presidential signing statements Washington, DC: Retrieved from http://www.loc.gov/law/help/statements.php
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The preamble of the United State’s constitution sets many goals for the country. These goals are to form a more perfect union, to establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense , promote the general welfare, and to secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves, and our posterity (US Const). With all of these goals it begs the question are, parts of the United State’s government meeting these goals? One specific case with this relationship is the relationship between the federal budget, and the goals in the preamble. The federal budget is meeting the goals set out in the preamble of the constitution because the federal budget defends the country, promotes the welfare of America’s citizen, and establishes justice
In exploring the basis on which the U.S President is considered to hold dominant authority in regard to foreign policy making, and whether the Congress ought to hold a significant role in the foreign decision making process, it is imperative to take into account the executive powers vested on the U.S presidency. This paper posits that the Presidency should be considered to be dominant, while at other times the Congress should be considered to be the dominant authority. In this perspective, it is essential that the Congress plays an important role in the foreign policy making process, since the most important feature of the U.S system is the division of powers.
Throughout the years the U.S has had more budget deficits than it has had surpluses. This is due to the excess in spending and not enough revenues to pay for it. Many have debated over the U.S budget deficit problem. However to fix the problem one has to research the past to figure out how the U.S budget deficit got to where it is now. Hopefully by figuring out this, one could project what the U.S budget deficit will look like in years to come.
Understanding and evaluating presidents’ performance often poses challenges for political experts. The nation votes one president at the time and each presidency faces different tests. The environments surrounding a presidency have a tremendous impact on the success and failure of that presidency. In addition, the president exercises his power through a check and balance system embody in the Constitution. As stated in (Collier 1959), the Constitution created a government of “separated institutions sharing power.” As a result, a president works with others institutions of the government to shape the nation’s agenda. Thus, determining a presidential performance becomes difficult, especially when it comes to comparing the performance among presidencies.
With his executive orders, Obama has put in restrictions and requirements of agencies that have been seen as excessive, says Nestle from New York University. These regulations include lowering emissions, preventing domestic violence, trying to create jobs for veterans, etc (Lyons, 223). Dan Epstein from Cause of Action says these orders have only served to create politicization of these federal agencies which are meant to be independent, especially of the executive branch. This has given the Obama administration more authority over the agencies and in turn, left the public’s say out of it (Lyons,
Government has filled a spot in the American Society that once belonged to the churches. People regularly attended church throughout American history and use the church as a place of instruction, guidance, support, and charity. The government now fills a larger role in American’s lives and at the same time church attendance is diminishing. The government is growing at a rapid pace and the expanded social programs have more influence on Americans than the church. America is a nation of immigrants which most fled from large governments (sometime oppressive) and now the American government is poised to grow larger than ever. The ideas behind the growth of government can have noble intentions, but more often than not results in wasted money and harm to the peoples it intends to help, and is replacing the roles churches once filled as a guiding and supportive structure in peoples lives.
As far as foreign policymaking goes, the main goal of the Government is to “speak with one voice” (p. 336) so that our nation will be seen as a united and unwavering force. This notion was put into law in 1799 by the Logan Act, which prohibited unauthorized citizens from negotiating with foreign Governments. Even with such laws in place, having one central foreign policymaking body is easier said than done. The system of checks and balances provides much stability to our national government, but it can also create a struggle between who has what power and who has the final say in matters regarding this issue. There are many individuals, departments, and agencies that retain some influence in the arena of foreign policymaking but for many reasons that will be further discussed, The President is the dominant force and ultimate decision-making resides in his hands, and his alone.
The United States Congress is the legislative branch of our government made up by the Senate and the House of Representatives. Our Congress, just as all branches of our government, derives its power from the US Constitution, specifically Article 1 section 8 which outlines the specific enumerated powers of Congress. This Article also outlines the implied powers of Congress. These implied powers include all things which are deemed necessary in order for Congress to carry out the jobs assigned to it by their enumerated powers.
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the budget plan they have. So changes can’t be made instantly, but have to be voted on by
Several aspects of the executive branch give the presidency political power. The president’s biggest constitutional power is the power of the veto (Romance, July 27). This is a power over Congress, allowing the president to stop an act of Congress in its tracks. Two things limit the impact of this power, however. First, the veto is simply a big “NO” aimed at Congress, making it largely a negative power as opposed to a constructive power (July 27). This means that the presidential veto, while still quite potent even by its mere threat, is fundamentally a reactive force rather than an active force. Second, the presidential veto can be overturned by two-thirds of the House of Representatives and Senate (Landy and Milkis, 289). This means that the veto doesn’t even necessarily hav...
Line item budgeting categorizes various expenses and places them in list format on a document for budgetary purposes. This type of budgeting is considered the heartbeat of budgeting due to the systematic method by which it controls revenue and expenses, this is made evident when Tyer and Willand (1992), pointed out “Statutory or administrative controls could be imposed on the transfer of funds from one-line item to another, or between broad categories of expenditure.” According to Schick (1971), “line item budgets were attractive to legislative officials because they did not focus explicit attention on substantive policy issues or choices.”