Candidate Series

Newt Gingrich: His anti-media plan

Using debate moments to propel his presidential election campaign.

Budget

Under the U.S. Constitution the federal budget legislation originates in the House of Representatives which then sends it to the Senate with both bodies resolving any differences before sending the final budget to the president for signature or veto.  When President Clinton left office in 2001, the federal government showed a budget surplus of $127 billion.  But after 10 years of tax cuts, foreign wars, deficit spending and massive stimulus and bailout programs related to the national economic meltdown, the budget deficit for the federal fiscal year that ends Sept. 30 is forecast to hit $1.5 trillion.  Democrats and Republicans currently are debating whether to extend tax cuts for higher-income Americans enacted during the administration of President George W. Bush and scheduled to expire this year.  Early in 2010, in an attempt to control deficit spending, Congress and the president approved the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go-Act which requires new spending and revenue legislation not increase the deficit.  The debate now centers on the tough decisions over revenue increases and spending cuts needed to rein in and reduce the deficit.

Related Legislation