Budget Matters Blog


The Fiscal Cliff Deal

At the last possible moment, Congress came to an agreement to avoid the fiscal cliff. The deal affects tax rates, unemployment benefits, and even the price of milk. Read the details.


Voting for the First Time

I used to be oblivious to the inner workings of my pay stub, and how the taxes I pay are used by the federal government. As a recent high school graduate, working two jobs and preparing for college, reading A People’s Guide to the Federal Budget has been a real eye-opener. As I prepare to vote for the first time this fall, and enter into college as a political science major, I am more aware of how seemingly concrete numbers can be twisted around to aid different points of view.


Pie Week: Spending Pies United

During Pie Week, we’ve explored three types of federal spending pies: total, mandatory, and discretionary. Judging from your comments on our Facebook page, you have strong opinions about the numbers on these charts. To wrap up the week, we think it’s important to see the spending charts next to one ...


Pie Week: The Discretionary Budget

Pie Week continues today with the part of the federal budget that often receives the most scrutiny: discretionary spending.


Despite Deep Spending Cuts, GOP Plan Achieves Little Deficit Reduction in 2012

Chairman Ryan’s deep cuts would only achieve modest deficit reductions in 2012The budget proposal released by Rep. Paul Ryan’s this week includes a slew of cuts to “non-security” discretionary programs in 2012.  The deepest cuts are illustrated below.   Rep. Ryan proposes we spend less than half as much as President ...