Chapter One Budgeting as Conflicting Promises 7
Budgets Are Conflicting Commitments 7
Tax Preferences 11
Appropriations:The Power of Congress and Power Within Congress 13
The President Is Both Rival and Partner of Congress 16
Conflicting Promises:The Multiple Meanings of Budgetary Control 19
Chapter Two Budgets as Struggles for Power:A Historical Perspective 25
Colonial Origins 26
Turning Points:Civil War through World War I 30
The Executive Budget Movement 33
Dislocation and Continuity:Depression and War 40
Chapter Three The Dance of the Dollars:Classical Budgeting 42
Calculations 44
Complexity 44
Aids to Calculation 45
Incremental Budgeting 46
Roles and Perspectives 50
The Agency 50
The Bureau of the Budget 54
The Appropriations Committees 56
Strategies 57
Be a Good Politician 58
Clientele 58
Confidence 60
Congressional Committee Hearings 62
Strategies Designed to Capitalize on the Fragmentation of Power in National Politics 62
Chapter Four The Collapse of Consensus 68
The Growth of Entitlements 69
Economic Activism 70
Federal Credit 71
Priorities 72
Impoundment 73
The Budget Act:More Checks, More Balances,but Not More Control 75
Impoundment Again 75
Congressional Budget Office 76
Senate Budget Committee and House Budget Committee 76
Scheduling 76
Resolutions 77
Reconciliation 78
Complexity 78
A Congressional Budget,or Merely More Budgeting? 78
The Budget Process,1975-1979:Making Totals Stick 79
Classical Budgeting Withers Without Quite Disappearing 81
Chapter Five The Politics of Dissensus 83
Why Budget Decisions Became So Difficult 84
The Focus on Totals 84
The End of Economic Management 85
Dominance of the Deficit 86
Polarization of the Parties 87
The Congressional Budget Act in the 1980s 88
R and R:Resolution and Reconciliation 88
Deferral and Rescission Redux 90
The Shifting Budgetary Base 91
Continuing Omnibus Resolutions 92
OMB in an Era of Perennial Budgeting 93
Top-Down Policy Making 94
Continuous Budgeting 94
Negotiating with Congress 95
Implications for OMB 96
Dissensus in Congress 97
Role Reversal 97
Rolled on the Floor 98
Budgeting Penetrates Congress 100
Gimmicks 100
Chapter Six The Politics of Balancing Budgets 103
Grarnm-Rudman-Hollings 105
The Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 106
The Clinton Budget of 1993 108
The Politics of Radical Reversal 1995 111
Prologue:Constitutional Amendment and Rescission 112
Budgets and Counterbudgets:The President's Budgetand the Congressional Resolution 113
Incrementalism in Mirror Image:Appropriations 114
Confrontation:Continuing Resolutions and the Debt Limit 115
Reconciliation and Intransigence 118
The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 120
Chapter Seven Entitlements 123
The"Ought"and"Is"of Entitlements 124
Entitlements and Budgeting 129
How Do Entitlements Start? 132
Why Do Entitlements Grow? 135
Maintaining Commitment:Social Security 136
Escalating Costs:Medicare 138
Expanding Eligibility:Medicaid 140
Provider Pressures:End-Stage Renal Disease 142
How Have Entitlements Been Controlled? 144
Declining Need:Black Lung Disease 145
Ending an Entitlement:Welfare 146
Entitlements and Others 148
Appropriations:Head Start and WIC 148
Tax Expenditures:Earned Income Tax Credit(EITC) 149
Formula Grants to States:Adoption Assistance Program,Individuals With Disabilities Education Act,and the Ryan White Care Act 149
Chapter Eight Budgeting for Defense 152
Dimensions of Defense 153
Defense Strategy and Funding 155
The Internal Budget Process 161
Planning,Programming,Budgeting 161
Acquisitions 165
The Congressional Budget Process 170
Reprogramming 173
Secrecy 175
Cuts 176
Contingencies 179
Chapter Nine Reform 181
Norms of Budgetary Behavior 181
Forms of Budgeting 184
Reform Without Conflict 184
The Politics in Budget Reform 186
Unit of Measurement:Cash or Volume 187
Time Span:Months,One Year,Many Years 188
Calculation:Incremental or Comprehensive 189
Management Reforms 191
Performance and Budgeting 191
Centralization and Decentralization:The Role of OMB 193
Credit Reform 195
Financial Management 196
Capital Budgeting 197
Limits 198
The Line-Item Veto 200
Chapter Ten From Surplus to Deficit 205
The Disappearing Deficit 205
The Politics of Budget Surplus 208
The End of the Surplus 212
Afterword 219
Characteristics of the Budget Process 219
The Budgetary Process Is Powerful Yet Impotent 220
The Budgetary Process Is Structured Yet Formalistic 220
The Budgetary Process Is Complex Yet Segmented 221
Budgetary Politics Are Polarized but Moderated 223
Glossary 225
Guide to Acronyms 230
Select Bibliography 231
Credits 245
Index 246