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Federal Budget and Tax Policy BUSH ADMINISTRATION PUBLISHES DETAILS ON PROPOSED PROGRAM CUTS AND ELIMINATIONS -- Feb. 12, 6:55 p.m. -- (pdf | 776 KB) ----- FARM BILL HANGOVER -- Feb. 12, 2:30 p.m. -- The President’s 2009 U.S. Department of Agriculture budget submission is most notable for what was left incomplete from 2007 – a new Farm Bill. While the House and Senate both passed a version of the farm bill last year, a conference committee on the measure has yet to meet. Only the Senate has appointed conferees. So the President has yet to see final farm bill legislation. Thus, the FY2009 USDA budget is based largely on the farm bill proposals (pdf | 540 KB) put forth by the President last year. Because of the political dynamics surrounding the farm bill, however, it is unlikely that many (if any) of those proposals will be enshrined in a final farm bill from Congress. That is, if a final farm bill even emerges from this current Congress. Under the President’s proposal, estimated total outlays for FY2009 would be $94.75 billion, compared to an FY2008 estimate of $94.76 billion (table, pg. 91, pdf | 1.15MB). Further, thirty-three USDA programs are also slated for termination or reduction under the proposal. But since the underlying legislation that the USDA proposal rests on does not exist, it’s hard to imagine this USDA budget becoming law. ----- SUPPLEMENTAL JUSTIFICATION DOCUMENTS -- Feb. 8, 5:00 p.m. -- The Defense Department finally posted budget justification documents on the web page of its comptroller. However, it looks like the documents are “placeholders” in the same way that Defense Secretary Gates has called the $70 billion supplemental request a “placeholder” for war spending in 2009. Clicking on the “detailed funding appendix” (pdf) gives you a 159-page summary of activities in principal budget accounts such as procurement and military personnel, but clicking on the link to the “defense-wide justification” (html) that generally provides details about specific programs and weapons takes you to a list of budget accounts that, when selected, show only the word “maybe.” As in, maybe you’ll find out someday where all this money is going? Check back here for an update… ----- AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT BUDGET DOCUMENTS -- Feb. 7, 1:45 p.m. -- Department of Agriculture (USDA) -- (pdf | 1.15MB) Departmental Budget Appendix (pdf) CQ Article on proposed Agriculture Department program cuts, Feb. 4, 2008 (pdf) ----- INTERIOR DEPARTMENT BUDGET DOCUMENTS -- Feb. 6, 5:25 p.m. -- ----- SHADOWY SUPPLEMENTAL -- Feb. 5, 6:05 p.m. -- Beyond invoking Congressional wrath by not requesting a year’s worth of emergency supplemental spending with the White House budget, the Defense Department is providing little information about the $70 million that was ultimately tacked on. When DoD released its detailed justification documents hours after the budget was released, none explained what the supplemental would cover. DoD said in a press release that “details will be provided to Congress once the specific needs of our troops on the ground are better known,” which apparently won’t happen until General Petraeus’ briefing in the Spring. The White House included a 27-page addendum on “supplemental proposals” to its explanatory budget document which consisted mostly of details about how the $102 billion of supplementary funds still awaiting Congressional approval would be spent. ----- DEPARTMENT BUDGET DOCUMENTS -- Feb. 5, 3:45 p.m. -- Department of Homeland Security -- (pdf | 3.33MB) Department of Justice -- (html) Department of the Treasury -- (html) Department of Veterans Affairs -- (html) Deparment of Health and Human Services -- (html) Department of State (pdf | 2.63MB) Department of Agriculture (USDA) -- (pdf | 1.15MB) ----- INTEREST PAYMENTS ON DEBT SKYROCKET -- Feb. 5, 3:25 p.m. -- With the economy in the tank and rising federal debt, the costs of servicing the federal debt is skyrocketing. According to FY 2006 budget, federal budget net interest payments were $177 billion in 2005. In this year’s budget, the net interest costs are going to skyrocket to $260 billion in FY 2009. And net interest doesn’t even include the interest the government has to pay hundreds of billions borrowed from surplus non-discretionary accounts like Social Security. DEPARTMENT BUDGET DOCUMENTS -- Feb. 5, 2:40 p.m. -- Social Security Administration (pdf | 4.46MB) National Science Foundation (pdf | 5.72MB) ----- FUTURE CASH COMBAT -- Feb. 5, 11:30 a.m. -- The Army’s Future Combat Systems, a sprawling modernization program that encompasses several phased deployments of weapons and vehicles connected by a computer network, received $3.3 billion, a nearly 14% increase over 2008. $331 million of that money comes from the procurement account, while the rest can be found in the research and development account. FCS has garnered much attention from Congress and watchdog agencies like the GAO for its “lead systems integrator” contracting structure and ballooning cost. Another potential battlefield for lawmakers looking to cut costs. ----- MISSILE DEFENSE -- Feb. 5, 11:20 a.m. -- The administration’s request included $9 billion for the Missile Defense Agency, the organization within the Defense Department that manages most programs associated with the missile defense program. That represents a roughly five percent increase from the previous year’s budget. In its press release, the administration claimed $10.7 billion to “develop, test, and field missile defense systems,” meaning it probably included related missile programs funded by the services. Missile defense continues to be the most expensive weapons program fielded by the U.S. military. ----- TCS STATEMENT ON THE PRESIDENT'S FY2009 BUDGET -- Feb. 4, 7:30 p.m. -- ----- DIGGING THE HOLE DEEPER -- Feb.4, 6:50 p.m. -- The budget predicts a deficit of $407 billion in FY09 (and a FY08 deficit of $410 billion), a figure that just squeaks under the record (in dollar terms) budget deficit of $413 billion in FY05. Even more staggering is to go back to the first budget from this White House and find that the FY02 budget was for less than $2 trillion and at that time the FY09 budget was supposed to be $2.5 trillion. Of course a lot happened between February 2001 and today, but it is sobering nonetheless. Other budget facts: by the end of FY09 the debt is expected to be well in excess of $10 trillion. At the end of 2000 it was $5.6 trillion and the debt didn’t cross the $1 trillion threshold until 1982. Information on deficits and debt can be found in the Historical Tables section of the budget (pdf | 1.64MB) The FY02 budget summary is available in Table S-3 (html) ----- MORE DEPARTMENTAL BUDGET DOCUMENTS -- Feb. 4, 6:45 p.m. -- Department of Labor -- (html) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) -- (pdf | 7.12MB) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) -- (html) ----- PRESS BRIEFING BY OMB DIRECTOR JIM NUSSLE -- Feb. 4, 5:20 p.m. -- Transcript (html) and charts (pdf | 2.03MB) from Director Nussle's press briefing today. ----- GLOBAL NUCLEAR ENERGY PARTNERSHIP/ADVANCED FUEL CYCLE INITIATIVE -- Feb. 4, 4:50 p.m. -- The administration is proposing $123 million more than Congress enacted in FY2008 for the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership/Advanced Fuel Cycle Research (pdf). Last year’s FY08 Omnibus Appropriations bill included $179 million for the program and the administration’s proposed budget for FY09 requests $302 million for the program. This year’s request represents a decrease from the $405 million requested in the administration’s FY08 proposed budget. However, it still clearly demonstrates the administration’s commitment to a program about which many in Congress have significant reservations. The Global Nuclear Energy Partnership is a large-scale program to reprocess spent nuclear fuel in the United States and increase the use of nuclear power worldwide. Past efforts to reprocess nuclear waste have failed and many question the technological capability for reprocessing to succeed today. Furthermore, the cost estimates for reprocessing waste from existing reactors in the United States have been as high as $100 billion. ----- NUKES NEW AND OLD -- Feb. 4, 4:20 p.m. -- Of the $6.6 billion that the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Safety Administration is slated to receive from the administration, $10 million would go toward the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW), according to the agency’s budget justification documents. Last year Congress zeroed out the administration’s $118 million request for the RRW program, which would replace supposedly impotent plutonium pits in warheads. The $10 million is to “enable maturation” of the RRW design in order to address concerns recently raised about the program’s necessity by an independent scientific panel. Much ink in the DoE justification documents is devoted to the Orwellian-sounding “Complex Transformation” project, DoE’s plan to consolidate its complex of nuclear facilities across the country and build some new ones while they’re at it. An example of the latter is the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement Building (CMRR), a structure many believe will be used for pit production that received $100 million toward a revised $350-500 million total price tag. ----- DOD GETS RAPTUROUS OVER THE RAPTOR -- Feb. 4, 4:20 p.m. -- The administration request includes $3.6 billion for 20 new F-22 Raptor planes for the Air Force, according to Defense Department justification documents. In addition to these funds in the procurement account, the F-22 program receives $700 million in the research and development account. Lawmakers originally planned to give the Air Force just 183 of the planes, which we have criticized as Cold War relics, but DoD wants more, and the flaws recently found in its F-15 fleet have given them leverage. The F-22 is shaping up to become a Congressional battleground in the coming year, given each plane’s $360 million price tag. ----- MORE DEPARTMENTAL BUDGET DOCUMENTS -- Feb. 4, 4:00 p.m. Deparment of Education FY 2009 Budget Request (html) Department of Transportation FY 2009 Budget Request (html) Deparment of Energy FY 2009 Budget Request (html) ----- 2009 U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS BUDGET DOCUMENTS POSTED -- Feb. 4, 3:15 p.m. -- (pdf | 567 KB) ----- BORDER SECURITY UNDER SCRUTINY -- Feb.4, 2:35 p.m. -- SBInet, the DHS program tasked with providing the fence’s technological elements such as cameras and sensors, received $775 million. Though that would seem a significant reduction from 2008’s estimated expenditures of nearly $2 billion, the administration’s press release says the budget would “ensure $2 billion over two years to continue to construct the most effective mix of current and next generation technology.” How exactly the administration is finding its figures is still unclear at this time, as is the definition of “effective” for this border boondoggle. ----- REGIONAL PORK BACKED BY POWERFUL PATRONS GETS AXED -- Feb. 4, 2:15 p.m. -- Three regional development authorities got their obligatory cut in the President’s FY09 budget. The Appalachian Regional Commission was cut from $73.0 million in FY08 to $65.0 million in FY09 (Appalachia), the Delta Regional Authority (Mississippi Delta region) was cut from $11.7 million to $6.0 million and the Denali Commission (Alaska) was whacked from $21.8 million down to $1.8 million. Never fear, powerful congressional patrons for the programs, Senate Appropriations Chairman Byrd (D-WV), Ranking Member Cochran (R-MS), and senior appropriator Sen. Stevens (R-AK) will likely turn those budget frowns upside down once the FY09 appropriations season gets underway. These programs are listed in Independent Agencies (pdf | 790 KB) ----- 2009 DOD BUDGET DOCUMENTS POSTED -- Feb. 4, 2:05 p.m. -- The Department of Defense (DOD) has just posted summary budget documents for 2009. (html) ----- STICKER SHOCK -- Feb. 4, 1:40 p.m. --
Maybe others have seen this, but on Page S-2 of the summary tables, the administration discloses the final price tag for the Global War on Terror in FY 2007. You may want to sit down for this, because the final price tag of $173.6 billion will knock any sensible person off their feet. By all indications, FY 2008 will top that. ----- PRESIDENT SUPPORTS CONTROVERSIAL LOAN GUARANTEE PROGRAM -- Feb. 4, 1:10 p.m. -- The administration’s 2009 budget for the Department of Energy Loan Guarantee Program requests $38.5 billion in loan guarantee authority (pdf)—more than 4 times the FY08 budget request. Both the Department of Energy Inspector General and the Congressional Budget office have acknowledged this program poses significant risk for taxpayers. Many have also expressed concerns including the DOE Inspector General, regarding the DOE’s capabilities of successfully administering such a program. In the 1980’s DOE lost billions of taxpayer dollars investing in the synthetic fuels industry. ----- OMB BUDGET DIRECTOR ON C-SPAN -- Feb. 4, 1:00 p.m. -- In his press conference today on the budget, OMB Director Nussle danced around the issue of war funding, offering a series of responses as to why the war was not fully budgeted. To steal from the Bard, methinks the budget Director doth protest too much: ----- ADMINISTRATION PROPOSES $2 BILLION CUT IN ROAD SPENDING -- Feb. 4, 12:25 p.m. -- In what seems to be a budget rite of passage, the administration has proposed billions of cuts to Congress’ pet programs. This year is no different with the administration proposing 151 program terminations and reductions worth more than $25 billion. Program terminations come to $7.1 billion and program reductions total $18.2 billion. Our favorite is a $2.3 billion cut in federal highway funding. For the record, the administration is doing the right thing - the lack of growth in Highway Trust Fund revenue demands funding cuts. But the proposal will go over like a lead balloon in Congress. ----- Office of Management and Budget Director, Jim Nussle, will be appearing on C-Span momentarily to discuss the FY09 Budget. ----- SENATE BUDGET COMMITTEE MINORITY'S OBSERVATIONS -- Feb. 4, 12:05 p.m. -- Here is a link to the (pdf | 1.16 MB). ----- THE COAST GUARD’S TROUBLED DEEPWATER ACQUISITION -- Feb. 4, 11:30 a.m. -- A program to recapitalize a large portion of the agency’s ships, aircraft and communications -- got a more than 20% bump up from FY08 levels. The FY09 Department of Homeland Security budget provides $990 million for the program over the $783 million provided in FY08. The budget conveniently ignores the major flaws in management structure of this acquisition and keeps the money flowing. In fact, Deepwater represents almost a third of the Coast Guard’s nearly $680 million boost over FY08 levels to $7.8 billion. As far as problems with Deepwater, you don’t have to take our word for it. Here are links to testimony on the project by the DHS Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office (GAO pdf). ----- BUDGET TALKING POINTS FROM THE ADMINISTRATION -- Feb. 4, 10:50 a.m. -- These talking points were just emailed to us. Wanted to make sure that you had a chance to see them. ----- 5.6 BILLION IN EMERGENCY CORPS FUNDS FOR KATRINA -- Feb. 4, 10:30 a.m. -- In their final budget, the Bush Administration keeps up the pressure on the Corps of Engineers, providing the agency $4.7B in FY09. While this is in line with previous administration budgets, it compares to $5.6B Congress provided in FY08 and $5.4B in FY07. However, this year, the administration included an additional $5.8B in emergency funding for flood and hurricane damage reduction projects in New Orleans and Louisiana. More than half of the funding would fully fund project construction (no local cost-share) and the rest would be cost shared on 65% federal – 35% state/local basis. The needs in New Orleans and Louisiana are real. But the budgetary challenge will be can Congress keep their hands off of this funding or will history repeat with some of it getting siphoned off to pay for pet projects across the country? |