National Priorities Project is thrilled to announce the release of our new book, A People's Guide to the Federal Budget. Call us idealists, but we at NPP believe that a little information goes a long way, and that a book can change history.

A People's Guide to the Federal Budget is a friendly, down-to-earth handbook for Americans of all ages and backgrounds who want to have a voice in our democracy and ensure the U.S. federal budget reflects their priorities. It's even got cartoons in it.

Most Americans say they're not happy with the way ...

Debates about the federal budget rage on in Washington. Unfortunately, those debates are based on guesstimates rather than accurate information. That’s because there is no single, comprehensive source for federal spending data, as I wrote in a blog post earlier this week.

Federal spending transparency is not a partisan matter, and it’s not a luxury. It’s an urgent issue. What we need now is the will to make it happen.

NPP supports the DATA Act, which recently passed the House, and we’d like your help to make sure it comes up for a vote in the ...

Authority, Outlays, and Obligations: oh my!

We’ve been talking about the DATA Act this week because it represents an opportunity to improve our insight into how the U.S. federal government spends money. Tracking precise amounts of federal spending is tricky, but it’s critical to having an informed discussion about the budget.

“Federal spending” can mean different things. When Congress and the president pass a budget, they’re granting budget authority to federal agencies, which gives them the legal authority to spend money.

Once the agencies have budget authority, they enter into obligations, which essentially set money aside ...

A few weeks ago I was on the radio program Background Briefing with host Ian Masters. We were talking about National Priorities Project's Tax Day numbers, which show you how the federal government spent every penny of your income taxes in 2011.

"One sort of wishes the federal government provided these numbers," my host lamented.

In fact, the White House used to put out a Citizen's Guide to the Federal Budget every year, but it was discontinued during the George W. Bush presidency. President Obama has not resurrected the practice. Meanwhile, valuable information about how the federal government ...

This week we're talking about pie. Federal budget pies, that is. The first pie we're looking at is total federal spending.

Join us every day this week for a different slice of pie! Check back here or on Twitter and Facebook.