[Analytical Perspectives]
[Introduction]
[1. Introduction]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]
Purpose of This Volume
The Analytical Perspectives volume presents analyses that highlight
specific subject areas or provide other significant data that place the
budget in context. The volume presents crosscutting analyses of
Government programs and activities from several perspectives.
Presidential budgets have included separate analytical presentations
of this kind for many years. The 1947 Budget and subsequent budgets
included a separate section entitled ``Special Analyses and Tables''
that covered four or more topics. For the 1952 Budget, this section was
expanded to ten analyses, including many subjects still covered today,
such as receipts, investment, credit programs, and aid to State and
local governments. With the 1967 Budget this material became a separate
volume entitled ``Special Analyses,'' and included 13 chapters. The
material has remained a separate volume since then, with the exception
of the budgets for 1991-1994, when all of the budget material was
included in one large volume. Beginning with the 1995 Budget, the volume
has been named Analytical Perspectives.
The volume this year continues to reflect an interest in publishing
more information on program performance, so that Executive agencies, the
Congress, and the public will become increasingly informed about how
well programs are performing. Better performance information can help
managers improve program effectiveness, and can help Executive and
Congressional policymakers improve the allocation of public resources.
The performance assessment information is summarized in Chapter 2,
``Performance and Management Assessments,'' and is discussed in many
other chapters, especially those in the section, ``Crosscutting
Programs.'' One-page summaries of each program are on the Analytical
Perspectives CD ROM (inside back cover).
The volume includes a new chapter this year on the California Bay-
Delta restoration program (Chapter 11).
Again this year, several large tables are included as part of the
Budget on the enclosed Analytical Perspectives CD ROM, along with
evaluations and analyses of programs and management at Federal
departments and agencies. A list of the items on the CD ROM is in the
Table of Contents of this volume.
Overview of the Chapters
Introduction
1. Introduction. This chapter discusses each chapter briefly and
highlights the emphasis on performance in a crosscutting context.
Performance and Management Assessments
2. Budget and Performance Integration. This chapter summarizes this
year's performance and management assessments, based primarily on the
Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART). The enclosed Analytical
Perspectives CD ROM includes one-page summaries of the program
evaluations. Additional details of each of the assessments can be found
on the OMB web page under ``Budget Documents'' at http://www.budget.gov/
budget/.
Crosscutting Programs
3. Homeland Security Analysis. This chapter discusses homeland
security funding and provides information on homeland security program
requirements, performance, and priorities. Additional detailed
information is available on the enclosed Analytical Perspectives CD ROM.
4. Strengthening Federal Statistics. This chapter discusses the
development of standards that principal statistical programs can use to
assess their performance and presents highlights of their 2006 Budget
proposals.
5. Research and Development. This chapter presents a crosscutting
review of research and development funding in the budget, including
discussions about priorities, performance, and coordination across
agencies.
6. Federal Investment. This chapter discusses spending across Federal
agencies that yields long-term benefits, and presents information on
physical capital, research and development, and education and training.
The chapter includes material on the PART assessments related to direct
Federal investment spending. There is also a section on capital stocks.
7. Credit and Insurance. This chapter provides crosscutting analyses
of the roles and risks of Federal credit and insurance programs and
Government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), as well as criteria for
evaluation. It covers the categories of Federal credit (housing,
education, business including farm operations, and international) and
insurance programs (deposit insurance, pension guarantees, disaster
insurance, and insurance against security-related risks). Two detailed
tables, ``Table 7-10. Direct Loan Transactions of the Federal
Government'' and ``Table 7-11. Guaranteed Loan Transactions of the
Federal Government'', are on the enclosed Analytical Perspectives CD
ROM.
8. Aid to State and Local Governments. This discussion presents
crosscutting information on Federal grants to State and local
governments, including highlights of Administration proposals. The
chapter also includes material on the PART assessments related to
grants. An Appendix to this chapter includes State-by-State spending
estimates of major grant programs.
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9. Integrating Services with Information Technology. This chapter
presents a crosscutting look at investments in information technology
(IT). The chapter describes various aspects of the Administration's
information technology agenda, with special emphasis on the performance,
efficiency, and effectiveness of the Government's IT investments. Three
detailed tables, ``Table 9-1. Effectiveness of Agency's IT Management
and E-Gov Processes,'' ``Table 9-2. Management Guidance,'' and ``Table
9-3. Status of Presidential E-Government Initiatives,'' are on the
enclosed Analytical Perspectives CD ROM.
10. Federal Drug Control Funding by Agency. This section presents
estimated drug control funding for Federal departments and agencies.
11. California-Federal Bay-Delta Program Budget Crosscut (CALFED).
This chapter presents information on Federal funding for the California
Bay-Delta restoration program, in partial fulfillment of the reporting
requirements for this program. A detailed table, ``CALFED-Related
Federal Funding'' is on the enclosed Analytical Perspectives CD ROM.
Economic Assumptions and Analyses
12. Economic Assumptions. This discussion reviews recent economic
developments; presents the Administration's assessment of the economic
outlook, including the expected effects of macroeconomic policies; and
compares the economic assumptions on which the budget is based with the
assumptions for last year's budget and those of other forecasters. This
chapter also covers topics related to the effects on the budget of
changes in economic conditions and assumptions.
13. Stewardship. This chapter assesses the Government's financial
condition and sustainability in an integrated framework that includes
Federal assets and liabilities; 75-year projections of the Federal
budget under alternative assumptions for discretionary spending, health
cost, productivity, and demographics; actuarial estimates for the
shortfalls in Social Security and Medicare; a national balance sheet
that shows the Federal contribution to national wealth; and a table of
economic and social indicators. Together these elements serve similar
analytical functions to a business's accounting statements.
14. National Income and Product Accounts. This chapter discusses how
Federal receipts and outlays fit into the framework of the National
Income and Product Accounts (NIPAs) prepared by the Department of
Commerce. The NIPA measures are the basis for reporting Federal
transactions in the gross domestic product (GDP) and for analyzing the
effect of the budget on aggregate economic activity.
Budget Reform Proposals
15. Budget Reform Proposals. This chapter is a brief description of
the Administration's budget reform agenda for addressing the need for
responsible budgeting and other reforms.
Federal Borrowing and Debt
16. Federal Borrowing and Debt. This chapter analyzes Federal
borrowing and debt and explains the budget estimates. It includes
sections on special topics such as the trends in debt, agency debt,
investment by Government accounts, and the debt limit.
Federal Receipts and Collections
17. Federal Receipts. This discussion presents information on receipts
estimates, enacted tax legislation, and the receipts proposals in the
budget.
18. User Charges and Other Collections. This chapter presents
information on receipts from regulatory fees and on collections from
market-oriented activities, such as the sale of stamps by the Postal
Service, which are recorded as offsets to outlays rather than as Federal
receipts.
19. Tax Expenditures. This discussion describes and presents estimates
of tax expenditures, which are defined as revenue losses from special
exemptions, credits, or other preferences in the tax code. An appendix
discusses possible alternatives to the current tax expenditure
baselines. This section is prepared by the Department of the Treasury.
Dimensions of the Budget
20. Comparison of Actual to Estimated Totals. This chapter compares
the actual receipts, outlays, and deficit for 2004 with the estimates
for that year published two years ago in the 2004 Budget. It also
includes a historical comparison of the differences between receipts,
outlays, and the deficit as originally proposed with final outcomes.
21. Outlays to the Public, Net and Gross. This section provides
information on outlays net and gross of offsetting collections and
offsetting receipts by agency. Offsetting collections and offsetting
receipts are netted against outlays and result primarily from the
Government's business-like activities, such as the sale of stamps by the
Postal Service.
22. Trust Funds and Federal Funds. This chapter provides summary
information on Federal funds and trust funds, which comprise the entire
budget. For trust funds the information includes income, outgo, and
balances. Two detailed tables, ``Table 22-4. Income, Outgo, and Balances
of Major Trust Funds'' and ``Table 22-5. Income, Outgo, and Balances of
Selected Federal Funds'' are on the enclosed Analytical Perspectives CD
ROM.
23. Off-Budget Federal Entities and Non-Budgetary Activities. This
chapter provides summary information on the off-budget Federal entities
(Social Security and Postal Service) and non-budgetary activities (such
as cash flows for credit programs, deposit funds, and regulation).
24. Federal Employment and Compensation. This chapter provides summary
data on the level and recent trends in civilian and military employment,
and personnel compensation and benefits.
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Current Services Estimates
25. Current Services Estimates. This chapter presents estimates, based
on rules similar to those contained in the Budget Enforcement Act (BEA),
of what receipts, outlays, and the deficit would be if no changes were
made to laws already enacted. It discusses the conceptual framework for
these estimates and describes differences with the BEA requirements. Two
detailed tables, ``Table 25-12. Current Services Budget Authority by
Function, Category, and Program'' and ``Table 25-13. Current Services
Outlays by Function, Category, and Program'' are on the enclosed
Analytical Perspectives CD ROM.
Budget System and Concepts
26. The Budget System and Concepts. This is a basic reference to the
budget process, concepts, laws, and terminology, and includes a glossary
of budget terms.
0Other
The following material appears only on the enclosed Analytical
Perspectives CD ROM:
Detailed Functional Tables. Table 27-1. ``Budget Authority
and Outlays by Function, Category, and Program''.
Federal Programs by Agency and Account. Table 28-1.
``Federal Programs by Agency and Account''.
PART Summaries. This section provides one-page summaries of
the program assessments and a summary list of all of the
assessments with funding, scores, and ratings.