BALANCE THE BUDGET

Did you know that Congress has failed to balance the federal budget for over 20 years, causing the national debt to balloon? In fact, Congress has only balanced its budget in 10 of the past 75 years! Use this budget tool to see whether you can do a better job. The budget is balanced when revenues meet or exceed spending. Unfortunately, historically Congress overspends its budget, resulting in a deficit. Deficit spending forces the federal government to borrow money, growing the national debt which is currently more than $34 trillion. This budget tool allows you to decide which spending and tax revenue line items you would include within the federal budget. Each line item includes a brief description of the item and the cost of that line item (in billions of dollars). The totals at the top of this budget tool will automatically update as line items are included or excluded. Federal spending will increase as spending line items are included and will reduce as line items are excluded. To include a spending line item, simply check the box associated with that line item. Exclude a spending line item by unchecking the associated box. Similarly, you can include or exclude tax revenue line items, controlling the size of the tax burden and who directly pays taxes. Your budget is balanced when the Deficit/Surplus total show a Surplus within a green box. When cutting spending, consider which programs will be eliminated, which employees will be terminated, and which special interest groups will attack you (because you hate kids, puppies, and apple pie). And when cutting taxes, who will be outraged because you gave tax breaks to those “wealthy corporations” or “billionaires.” Don’t forget that your budget will need to pass both the House of Representatives and Senate and will also need to be signed by the President. ​Now, it’s your turn to balance the federal budget!