Unified Budget Accounting in the United States Congress: The Persistence of Government Deficits and Debt, 1967-2010
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James I. Wallner
The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 represented a bipartisan effort to contain unsustainable spending and restore fiscal discipline. Yet an examination of one aspect of the congressional budget process will demonstrate that it has all too often failed to contain the accumulation of government debt and impose fiscal discipline. This article will argue that contrary to its intended design, the congressional budget process does not force a fundamental reevaluation of federal commitments during times of budgetary crisis. It will demonstrate the ways in which the budget process allows senators of both political parties to avoid balancing the obligations of the federal government with the resources it commands when making politically difficult decisions. In its examination of the congressional budget process, this article will highlight the potential role political scientists can play in formulating procedures that can meet the future challenges presented by persistent budgetary deficits.
©2011 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Introduction
- Governing through the Senate
- Article
- On Being Second: The U. S. Senate in the Separated System
- Through the Looking Glass, Darkly: What has Become of the Senate?
- Making Laws and Making Points: Senate Governance in an Era of Uncertain Majorities
- Polarization, Obstruction, and Governing in the Senate
- Legislative Coalitions, Polarization, and the U.S. Senate
- Hanging With the Filibuster Pivot
- Senate Delegation Dynamics in an Age of Party Polarization
- The Electoral Risks of Senate Majority Leadership, or How Tom Daschle Lost and Harry Reid Won
- Obstructing Agenda-Setting: Examining Blue Slip Behavior in the Senate
- The Past and Future of the Supermajority Senate
- What the Filibuster Tells Us About the Senate
- Commentary
- Unified Budget Accounting in the United States Congress: The Persistence of Government Deficits and Debt, 1967-2010
- Review
- Review of The Speaker of the House: A Study of Leadership
- A Response to Joseph Cooper's Review of The Speaker of the House: A Study of Leadership
- Review of The Myth of Presidential Representation
- Review of American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us
Articles in the same Issue
- Introduction
- Governing through the Senate
- Article
- On Being Second: The U. S. Senate in the Separated System
- Through the Looking Glass, Darkly: What has Become of the Senate?
- Making Laws and Making Points: Senate Governance in an Era of Uncertain Majorities
- Polarization, Obstruction, and Governing in the Senate
- Legislative Coalitions, Polarization, and the U.S. Senate
- Hanging With the Filibuster Pivot
- Senate Delegation Dynamics in an Age of Party Polarization
- The Electoral Risks of Senate Majority Leadership, or How Tom Daschle Lost and Harry Reid Won
- Obstructing Agenda-Setting: Examining Blue Slip Behavior in the Senate
- The Past and Future of the Supermajority Senate
- What the Filibuster Tells Us About the Senate
- Commentary
- Unified Budget Accounting in the United States Congress: The Persistence of Government Deficits and Debt, 1967-2010
- Review
- Review of The Speaker of the House: A Study of Leadership
- A Response to Joseph Cooper's Review of The Speaker of the House: A Study of Leadership
- Review of The Myth of Presidential Representation
- Review of American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us
