The Budgetary Process
The executive and legislative arms develop a systematic batch of taxing and allocation plans using the budgetary process (Hazlitt & Block, 2019). The process and the relative function of the government differ according to the country. In the U.S, the process commences when different departments prepare their appropriation requests according to the disbursements outlined by the existing laws and new regulations recommended by the government (Poole & Due, 2018). The requests are scrutinized by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The cabinet officials only negotiate with the president when there is a disagreement.
The United States budget primarily deals with disbursements. Revenue is less detailed. There is no legal specification that the budget is balanced, but much importance is paid to the expected shortage or leftover size. The budget is presented in January and is used to allocate the financial year, which commences in July (Poole & Due, 2018). The allocations for constructions cover the whole project’s expenses and have to be spent in the next two years. When it gets to the House of Representatives, it is normally shared among the Allocations Committee branches (Poole & Due, 2018). The roles of the committees are clearly outlined. The Ways and Means Committee is in charge of revenues. The revenues were reviewed separately from the allocations. The senate’s Appropriation Committee serves as a court of appeal for the House’s Allocations Committee. The structures facilitate the organization of the processes. The U.S government differs from Israel because it is banned from dealing with spiritual matters by the constitution (Nazworth, 2012). Israel intertwined its spiritual and political leaders as they could not separate religion from the state.
The president sends the budget, economic report, and the State of the Union Message to the Congress in January. The State of the Union Message addresses broad national regulation, while the Economic Report deals with economic policy (Poole & Due, 2018). It aims at evaluating the economic effect of the budget and its impact on the cost of goods and services. It means that it is mainly concerned with the budget’s equalization instead of the administrative aspects. The U.S budget developers have to consider the international balance of disbursements, which is a rather new challenge because the U.S experienced a surplus in balance-of-payments until the 1960s (Poole & Due, 2018). Since then, the trade equilibrium has been decreasing while the military commitments abroad have been increasing, requiring that budgetary rules are implemented considering global and national economic balance.
There is no formal mechanism to ensure that the budget finds an acceptable equilibrium in its various programs. However, alternative mechanisms get a fair deal of scrutiny. The clients of cabinet officials are in public and congress. The cabinet officers can use them to bring into effect their political powers when competing for finances. Correspondingly, the congress committees can influence the budget when it is being prepared. Meanwhile, the president uses his position to push for the national interest. The taxpayers exact additional pressure, as they express their opinion on the disbursements to the president and the Congress.
The uniformity with which the competing forces are balanced determines the acceptability of the appropriation process’s results. It is normal for opinions to differ. The decision-making process may be considered an open one, despite vested interests being embedded in certain areas. Even though congress makes minor changes to the budget, its influence is significant. The possibility of facing Congress tones down government officials because they have power over the departmental budget recommendations. For example, the secretary of infrastructure may establish a closer relationship with the infrastructure committee than with the president.
Reference
Hazlitt, H., & Block, W. (2019). Economics in one lesson. Auburn, Alabama: Ludwig von Mises Institute.
Nazworth, N. (2012, April 23). Evangelical Christians Agree, Disagree on Budget Priorities. Retrieved October 12, 2020, from https://www.christianpost.com/news/evangelical-christians-agree-disagree-on-budget-priorities-73664/
Poole, K., & Due, J. (2018, September 27). The budgetary process. Retrieved October 12, 2020, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/government-budget/The-budgetary-process