Federal Budget Dbq

Our Preamble lists five main goals that are required to help create a strong and stable society within our country. However, money is required in order to achieve these goals. We get this money from the Federal Budget which is the yearly amount we receive in order to better our country. The question here is, are we slicing the pie correctly in relation to the federal budget? In each of three budget clusters, the U.S Government should make adjustments in the way it is distributing money by making changes involving the Big Five, the Middle Five, and the Little Guys.

One of the most important groups would be the Big Five. “The most money, being 82% of the Federal Budget is put into this group” (Document C). This group includes Interest on National

This group includes Homeland Security, Justice, Education, Transportation, and Veterans Benefits. These are all very important groups however, there should definitely be some changes made. “Transportation is getting $103 billion to be used for construction and maintenance purposes while education is only getting $68 billion” (Document D). Transportation is very important because we need to have safe roads and bridges to travel on but education just isn’t getting a fair cut of money. Road and bridge construction should only occur when we are in absolute need of maintenance. When construction takes place, it is usually way before it is actually needed. Of course it is helping prevent dangerous and fatal occurrences but for the most part some of these changes can wait. Instead of spending so much money on our transportation category we should be putting more into education. “The money that the Federal Budget gives for education covers college aid loans, special education programs, free lunch to students in need, anti-discrimination efforts, research, and special programs” (Document D). Education is one of the most important things a person can have. ”It is covered under the Preamble because it promotes the general Welfare and secures our Blessings of Liberty” (Document D). Without it, one will not have much pride and unfortunately won’t get so far in life which will only make it harder for them

This group contains the FBI, Energy, the NASA program, National Park Service, and Natural Resources. Once again, these are all very important groups however, there can be changes made to them. These changes don’t necessarily need to happen but there can be some benefits from them. “The NASA program administers NASA, pays for the National Science Foundation, and general science programs at the Department of Energy” (Document E). This allows out country to be one step ahead of other countries at all times. This is because if we let them, another country can one-up us which in the end can lead to major problems for the U.S. The NASA program also gives us a whole new insight to how we see things and how we live our lives daily. For example Google Maps, which is used by many people, uses satellite that we get from having this program. However, some of the money used for this category can be taken and put into another category such as the FBI. “The FBI is the Federal Bureau of Investigation which operates field offices in 58 cities to combat terrorism and crime” (Document E). The FBI however is only getting $8 billion, which is a lot, but by adding more, it will allow us a better protection system. By having more money into this category more FBI agents could possibly be hired which will allow a lot less crime to occur. “According to the Preamble, the FBI insures domestic Tranquility, provides for the