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By Margaret Adams
It seems that congress is gearing up for another fight about the federal deficit. We have been experiencing this budget fight between the Republicans and the Democrats more intensely over the last three to four administration cycles. It seems that both parties are less willing to cooperate and work together for a common cause. The Republicans want to cut spending and balance the budget, and the Democrats are accused of spending more funds than are available. Debt is when expenses are more than income. A deficit is when debt keeps accumulating. Budgeting for the country is definitely not like budgeting for the average family’s household. The biggest difference is most households have a set income and will have to work more to increase that income or do without some luxuries or necessities to decrease expenses. The government can increase its income through several options, such as increasing taxes or printing more money. Decreasing federal expenditures affects many people and many areas of the economy.
The federal budget’s income consists of taxes, fees, and investments. The government collects almost 50% of its income from individual taxpayers and around 9.2% from corporations [figures obtained from the Peter G. Peterson foundation]. The Treasury sells debt such as treasury notes, bonds, and savings bonds to raise income and is the largest holder of domestic debt. Debt sold by the Treasury is purchased by investment funds (mutual funds and pensions), commercial banks, insurance companies, corporations, state and local government, the public, and other countries. According to debt.org/government, in the year 2012, approximately half of the federal debt held by the public was owned by foreign investors (China and Japan being the largest). By the end of 2021, debt held by foreign countries decreased to around 33%. There is an old saying that whoever holds the purse strings controls how the money is going to be spent. Taxpayers should ask who influences how the money collected by the U.S. government is being spent. Is the spending of money being controlled by corporate and foreign debt holders who may have influence over politicians? 
There are three categories of spending (i.e., expenses) by the government per National Priorities Project.org. Mandatory spending includes Social Security, Medicare, safety net programs like Medicaid, SNAP, TANF, and infrastructures like highways. Mandatory spending makes up about 60% of the Federal Budget’s expenses. Discretionary spending makes up around 30% and pays for things like the military, education, VA hospitals, transportation, food and agriculture, energy, and the environment, and includes federal employees and other items that can be added or taken away by congress. The cost of government investigations and special counsels and hearings are under the discretionary category and therefore it’s taxpayers’ money that pays for them. The third category consists of the interest payments the government is required to pay on its debt.
Politicians claim they want a balanced budget, but there is no constitutional law that states the budget must be balanced. As of yet, politicians have not taken the steps to put into law that the budget must be balanced. Republicans complain about the deficit, but research done by the A-Mark Foundation.org over the past 40 years shows that the deficit increased the most under Republican administrations. Republicans tend to promote tax cuts, while Democrats are against cuts stating they benefit the wealthy. In reality, it depends on whose research one relies on as to who has benefited the most from the cuts. Tax cuts take away money needed for the country to operate. Less money leads to cuts in public services (safety net programs).
Elbridge Gerry, a representative from Massachusetts (1789-1791), believed that Congress, specifically the House of Representatives, should hold the purse strings because they were more representative of the public. Today, voters must question this representation and keep an eye on their elected politicians to make sure they are being good shepherds of their tax dollars. Voters will need to look past the banter and infighting witnessed on TV and start researching just how our representatives vote on how to spend taxpayer money.
