| A | B |
|---|
| budget | a policy document explaining what funds the government will take in (taxes) and how and what will be spent (expenditures). |
| deficit | spending more money that you take in. |
| expenditures | money spent by the government. |
| revenues | money received by the government. |
| income tax | a tax paid by individual wage earners and corporations. The percentage of income paid depends on the amount of income. |
| Sixteenth Amendment | permitted Congress to collect an income tax. |
| national debt | all the money borrowed and not yet repaid by the government. |
| tax expenditures | money not collected by the income tax because of exemptions, exclusions, or deductions (these are often called loopholes). |
| Social Security Act | This law provides senior citizens a small "pension". |
| Medicare | A program provides health insurance to senior citizens. |
| incrementalism | often the budgets for many government departments and agencies is last year's budget plus a little more. |
| uncontrollable expenditures | these expenses are controlled not by Congress, but by how many people are eligible for the program. |
| entitlements | programs in which Congress has promised to offer every eligible person a certain level of benefits. Social Security and Medicare are great examples. |
| House Ways and Means Committee | This House committee oversees the federal tax code, subject to the approval of both houses of Congress. |
| Senate Finance Committee | This Senate committee oversees the federal tax code, subject to the approval of both houses of Congress. |
| Congressional Budget Office | advises Congress on the probable consequences of deductions and likely revenue generated by (changes to) the tax code. |
| budget resolution | a law binding Congress to a level of expenditures for the entire government. |
| reconciliation | a process by which Congress can authorize changes to the budget to achieve required saving/spending levels. This process is often used because it cannot be filibustered. |
| authorization bill | a law that creates or continues a governmental program. |
| appropriations bill | a law that actually funds a governmental program. |
| continuing resolutions | a process used when an agreement on an appropriation bill for an existing program can't be reached. It allows the program to be funded at the previous year's level. |
