Budget Matters Blog

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and DoD comptroller Robert Hale testify before Congress on the Pentagon's request (courtesy of Defense Department)

Last week the Obama Administration released its long-overdue budget request for fiscal year 2014. As part of the request, the administration is seeking $526.6 billion for the Pentagon. This amount does not including funding for wars or the nuclear weapons activities at the Department of Energy.  Here are five things you need to know about the FY2014 Pentagon request:

1) It Doesn’t Contribute Much To Reducing The ...

President Obama in the Oval Office/ White House flickr

Today President Obama released his fiscal 2014 budget proposal, which set a record for arriving two months after the legal deadline of the first Monday in February. Here are the top five things to know about the new budget.

5. The president's budget would reduce Social Security cost-of-living adjustments through "chained CPI."

President Obama became the first Democratic president ever to propose reductions in Social Security benefits by endorsing an alternate measure of inflation – known as chained CPI – to shrink cost-of-living adjustments for retirees. The president plans to save $230 ...

Taxes are due on April 15 – right around the corner – though few Americans know where their taxes actually go. So NPP is launching Tax Day 2013 – a suite of materials, including this chart that shows how Washington spent every one of your income tax dollars in 2012.

And get this:

We'll write you a personalized tax receipt

You can share the average taxpayer's receipt on Facebook and Twitter

Four Ways to Take Action

Want to learn more and stay updated? Sign up for our email list.

Think your friends would like to know about this tool? Join NPP ...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid scheduled votes on a 2013 spending bill for this week

Photo licensed under Creative Commons

TL;DR

No. There is no federal budget for fiscal 2013, which began on Oct. 1, 2012.

What's Going On?

Last week I explained that the federal government is operating on a temporary spending bill called a continuing resolution instead of a real budget for fiscal 2013. That continuing resolution expires on March 27 – just a week from today. If lawmakers don't pass new legislation, the federal government will shut down on March 28. An extra complication in ...

Image courtesy of acmoraes

Monday House Appropriations Committee Chair Hal Rogers (R-KY) introduced a bill that would extend the current stop-gap funding for government operations through Sept. 30, the end of the current fiscal year. The entire federal government has been operating without a budget since fiscal year 2013 began back on Oct. 1, and the current temporary spending bill – known officially as a continuing resolution (CR) – is set to expire on March 27.The legislation introduced yesterday would extend the current spending bill through the end of the fiscal year – in other words, Congress is proposing to go through ...

The U.S. Senate Chamber

I recently read an article that compared the gridlock in Washington, D.C., to living next to a railroad track with trains constantly going by – eventually you don’t even notice it. And with the fiscal cliff looming, concerns about the inability of Congress to get anything done are mounting.So it comes as some surprise that last week the Senate voted unanimously – 98 to 0 – to pass the fiscal year 2013 defense authorization bill. Apparently in Washington – or at least in the Senate – when it comes to the Pentagon it’s not gridlock, but ...

During Monday’s presidential debate both candidates discussed their plans for future Pentagon spending. Gov. Romney claimed that President Obama would cut $1 trillion from the Pentagon’s budget, while President Obama questioned how Gov. Romney would fund $2 trillion in new Pentagon spending.So what’s going on here? Let’s look at some numbers.As part of his fiscal year 2013 budget request, President Obama proposed a 2.5 percent decrease in the Pentagon’s annual “base” budget – meaning the military budget excluding war costs and a few other things. This minimal decrease would be the first reduction ...

This fall we're launching the incredible stories of Americans across the country in a project called Faces of the Budget. National Priorities Project has been gathering the stories of every-day people and how they've been affected by the spending and tax policies of the federal budget. Since all of us are affected by the federal budget in various ways – even if we don’t realize it – everyone has a story to tell.

We'll be sharing the words and stories of regular Americans on Facebook. If you'd like to share your story, please contact us.

Today I ...

Last week, on the heels of the Republican convention, my colleague Chris Hellman wrote here about the Republican Party platform and its implications for the federal budget. With the Democratic convention in Charlotte behind us, let's check out the Democratic platform approved by the party last week.

Democrats would extend the Bush-era tax cuts for American families making less than $250,000, and allow the tax cuts to expire for taxpayers making more than that amount. Democrats also propose closing tax loopholes and deductions that benefit the wealthiest Americans and the largest corporations. Not surprisingly, these proposals are in ...

This election season, National Priorities Project is launching a suite of materials to arm voters with crucial information about what's at stake in November. And part of being informed is knowing what questions to ask candidates. Here are the top six things to ask your congressional candidates about where they stand on this year's most important issues:

6.  What is the best role for the federal government in improving education in this country? (Read the education fact sheet.)

 Flickr/ Joe Shlabotnik

5.  Do you believe Social Security reform is necessary and, if so, what changes would you support ...