Balancing the Federal Budget

by Rubin, Irene

• ISBN13: 9781889119625
• ISBN10: 1889119628
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-02-01
• Publisher: Cq Pr

Summary

In this timely book Irene Rubin focuses on how government tried and eventually succeeded in balancing the U.S. federal budget in 1998. With characteristic insight and a lively narrative, Rubin describes the successive efforts of Congress and the administration over seventeen years to shape a process that would encourage balance, as well as the reactions of federal agencies to the pressure.

Table of Contents

Tables	p. ix
Preface	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xv
1981-98: Balancing the Budget: What Have We Learned?	p. 1
Why Balance the Budget: Defining the Problem	p. 2
Learning How to Balance the Budget	p. 7
Design of the Study	p. 24
Organization of the Book	p. 28
What Happened and What Was Learned	p. 29
What Have We Learned: The Lessons of the Late 1970s and Early 1980s	p. 33
What We Have Not Learned	p. 47
Conclusion	p. 63
Eating the Seed Corn?
Information Agencies: Bureau of Labor Statistics and Bureau of the Census	p. 67
Bureau of Labor Statistics	p. 69
Census	p. 82
Conclusions	p. 95
Budget Offices	p. 97
Congressional Budget Office	p. 99
Office of Management and Budget	p. 109
General Accounting Office	p. 123
Vulnerability	p. 125
Criticisms of the Agency's Performance	p. 126
Budget History	p. 127
Agency Responses	p. 127
Impacts	p. 138
Agency Strategies	p. 145
Conclusions	p. 147
Trimming the Herds?
Department of Agriculture	p. 153
The USDA	p. 154
The Reorganization Plan	p. 163
1996 Simplification of Authorizing Legislation	p. 167
Matching Workload, Program Complexity, and Staffing Levels	p. 170
Conclusions	p. 174
Department of Commerce	p. 178
Budget Cuts, Threats of Termination, and Response	p. 182
Department-wide Responses	p. 183
EDA: Cuts, Threats of Termination, and Adaptation	p. 197
PTO: User Fees and Deficit Reduction	p. 201
NOAA	p. 206
Conclusions	p. 218
Department of Housing and Urban Development	p. 220
The Reagan Years	p. 224
The Scandals	p. 226
The Clinton Administration	p. 229
Consequences	p. 236
Earmarking and Boutique Programs	p. 242
Monitoring and Evaluation	p. 245
Constituencies and Advocacy	p. 248
Conclusions	p. 249
Office of Personnel Management	p. 252
The Reagan Years	p. 256
The National Performance Review: Phases 1 and 2	p. 258
Reorganization	p. 268
Assessment	p. 270
Conclusions	p. 273
Eating the Seed Corn and Trimming the Herds	p. 276
Budget Process and Tradeoffs	p. 277
Defining Core Functions	p. 284
Responding to Staffing Reductions: Increased Efficiency and Contracting Out	p. 288
Duration	p. 290
Strategies	p. 292
Learning	p. 294
Notes	p. 296
Index	p. 311
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