A department-by-department guide to cutting the federal government's budget.
The Department of Commerce subsidizes businesses, restricts foreign trade, and oversees the Census Bureau and Patent Office.
The department will spend $11.8 billion in 2009, or about $101 for every U.S. household. It employs 53,000 workers and oversees more than 3,900 pages of regulations.
The Department of Education provides loans and grants to college students and subsidizes elementary and secondary schools.
The department will spend $78 billion in 2009, or $667 for every U.S. household. It employs 4,100 workers and oversees more than 2,050 pages of regulations.
The Department of Agriculture administers large farm subsidy programs and runs the food stamp and school lunch programs.
The department will spend $116 billion in 2009, or about $991 for every U.S. household. It employs 96,000 workers and runs 198 different subsidy programs.
The Government IS Creating Jobs
Kent Conrad and Fiscal Federalism
Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) has a reputation for being a “deficit hawk.” But the bar is apparently so low in Washington that merely paying lip service to “fiscal responsibility” is enough to earn you the hawk title in the press. In reality, Conrad is a tax and spender as a story in today’s Wall Street Journal demonstrates. Read more
FHA Bailout Watch
The Federal Housing Administration has been one of the government’s main instruments for propping up the housing market in the wake of the housing bust. But as has been widely reported, the FHA is in danger of needing a taxpayer bailout because of rising defaults on mortgages it insures. Read more
