Opinion: A U.S. budget for the new year
Published: 12-28-2024 6:00 AM |
John Buttrick writes from his Vermont Folk Rocker in his Concord home, Minds Crossing.
If we think it’s a puzzle how Santa gets down and up chimneys and carries enough toys and gifts in his sleigh for all the world’s people, we may have an allegory to explain how difficult it is to solve the mysterious workings of the United States budget.
Living with the popular assumption that New Year’s resolutions end with the abandonment of best intentions, may be an allegory for the frustrating attempts to adopt clear goals for the U.S. budget.
Economics is not a subject to be explained by the scientific method, unless perhaps it is analyzed in the mode of quantum mechanics! The study of economics is fraught with the influence of human emotions, values, and economic theories.
Most of our senators and representatives are not economists. Yes, they may have some staff to help them get through the thousands of pages of budget narrative, but the necessity to justify various sources of income and to untangle the strings and conditions, preferences and benefits of government spending is a herculean task.
The discourse about building a budget comes down to a competition of values and concepts of how much spending is enough and where it is best spent. Consider what Sen. Bernie Sanders has said on the floor of the Senate:
“When there’s an effort to improve life for the working class of this country, I hear (every day), ‘No, no, no, we can’t afford it.’ But when it comes to the military-industrial complex and their needs, what we hear is ‘yes, yes, yes’ with almost no debate.”
The contrary approach is expressed by Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who prioritizes military spending over social programs, wrote for Foreign Affairs that “the roughly $900 billion the U.S. spends annually on its military is ‘not nearly enough’ and urged the incoming Trump administration to ‘commit to a significant and sustained increase in defense spending.’”
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Locally, a similar struggle is being experienced over school budgets. The Monitor reports there is a proposal to reduce the Kearsarge Regional School District budget by 17%, arguing that the cost per student is too high. Others argue that “public education … is a very important investment in the future .”
So, the issue becomes, when building a budget, how much money is necessary and for what reasons. The United States fiscal budget can be described as including three parts: national defense that Congress funds through annual appropriations; “mandatory” programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, where the law determines the spending; and non-defense discretionary (NDD) funds.
In fiscal year 2023, the federal government spent $6.1 trillion, out of which $900 billion was for military, $785 billion was NDD funds, and the rest for the mandatory programs. Even this breakdown is not clear-cut. For example, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, there are military programs funded through NDD funds.
Most of us, including yours truly, are not financial wizards trained to be economists. However, that does not mean that we do not have the ability to contribute to the budget debate. We may take with us into the New Year the foresight to advocate for a 2025 U.S. budget based upon justice, equity, and government responsibilities to its citizens.
We may envision an NDD budget where the expenditure of our taxes supports a priority for critical activities and social services. According to Congressional Budget Office data, these services include: environment and conservation; science and space; international affairs; transportation, energy and agriculture; education and job training; economic security and social services; veterans’ health; public health and medical research; and justice and general government.
May the New Year demonstrate a priority for this non-defense discretionary funding in comparison to military and mandatory program funding.
The downs and ups of Santa and the fragility of New Year’s resolutions may remain a puzzle, but challenging some of the complexities of the U.S. budget may give rise to a hearty “Happy New Year.”