A department-by-department guide to cutting the federal government's budget.
The Department of Agriculture administers large farm subsidy programs and runs the food stamp and school lunch programs.
The department will spend about $142 billion in 2010, or about $1,200 for every U.S. household. It employs 96,000 workers and operates more than 230 subsidy programs.
The Department of Transportation subsidizes and regulates highways, airports, air traffic control, urban transit, and passenger rail.
The department will spend $91 billion in 2010, or about $770 for every U.S. household. It employs 58,000 workers and operates 85 different subsidy programs.
The Department of Education provides loans and grants to college students and subsidizes elementary and secondary schools.
The department will spend $107 billion in 2010, or about $900 for every U.S. household. It employs 4,100 workers and operates more than 160 subsidy programs.
White House's Job Creation Figures
The Council of Economic Advisors’ latest analysis of the $862 billion stimulus bill figures that it created 2.5 to 3.6 million jobs. How good is this estimate? The same CEA told us that the stimulus bill would keep the unemployment rate below 8 percent. Almost a year and a half later unemployment is still above 9 percent. Read more
HUD's Public Housing Proposal
The Department of Housing and Urban Development is pushing legislation that would enable public housing projects to access private financing. Due to limits on how much of a tenant’s income can be used for rent, public housing authorities have been reliant on billions of dollars in annual federal operating and capital subsidies. Read more
Emergency Spending
A recent paper by Veronique de Rugy examines how policymakers use various budgeting gimmicks to increase spending and obscure liabilities. One particularly abusive mechanism is the designation of supplemental spending as an “emergency.” The emergency designation makes it easier for policymakers to skirt budgetary rules, particularly “pay-as-you-go” (PAYGO) requirements. Read more
