[Analytical Perspectives]
[Introduction]
[1. Introduction]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]
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1. INTRODUCTION
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. This 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, the 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 Analytical Perspectives 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. Increased
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, ``Budget and Performance Integration,'' and
is discussed in many other chapters, especially those in the section,
``Crosscutting Programs.'' One-page summaries of each program assessment
are available at www.ExpectMore.gov.
Again this year, several large tables are included as part of the
Budget on the enclosed Analytical Perspectives CD-ROM. 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 of the subsequent
chapters briefly and highlights the emphasis on performance in a
crosscutting context.
Performance and Management Assessments
2. Budget and Performance Integration. This chapter summarizes the
performance and management assessments that have been completed to date
using the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART). One-page summaries of
the program evaluations, as well as detail on each of the assessments
can be found at www.ExpectMore.gov.
Crosscutting Programs
3. Homeland Security Funding 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 the related 2008
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.
Also included in this chapter is 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, risks, and performance of Federal credit and insurance
programs and Government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs). 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 chapter presents
crosscutting information on Federal grants to State and local
governments, including highlights of Administration proposals. This
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.
9. Integrating Services with Information Technology. This chapter
presents a crosscutting look at investments in information technology
(IT). It 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. Five detailed
tables: ``Table 9-1. Effectiveness of Agency's IT Management and E-Gov
Proc
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esses,'' ``Table 9-2. Management Guidance,'' ``Table 9-3. Agencies with
IT Investments on the Management Watch List,'' ``Table 9-4. Status of
Presidential E-Government Initiatives,'' and ``Table 9-5. Lines of
Business (LoB) Update'' are on the enclosed Analytical Perspectives CD-
ROM.
10. Federal Drug Control Funding. This chapter 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 and State funding for the
California-Federal Bay-Delta Program, in fulfillment of the reporting
requirements for this program. Detailed tables on funding and project
descriptions are on the enclosed Analytical Perspectives CD-ROM.
Economic Assumptions and Analyses
12. Economic Assumptions. This chapter reviews recent economic
developments; presents the Administration's assessment of the economic
situation and outlook, including the 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
costs, productivity, and demographics; actuarial estimates for the
shortfalls in Social Security and Medicare; a discussion of tax
compliance; 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 includes 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 chapter 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 chapter 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.
Dimensions of the Budget
20. Comparison of Actual to Estimated Totals. This chapter compares
the actual receipts, outlays, and deficit for 2006 with the estimates
for that year published two years ago in the 2006 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, Gross and Net. This chapter provides
information on outlays gross and net of offsetting collections and
offsetting receipts by agency. Outlays are a measure of Government
spending. Offsetting collections and offsetting receipts are netted
against gross 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.
23. Off-Budget Federal Entities and Non-Budgetary Activities. This
chapter discusses 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,
personnel compensation and benefits, overseas staffing, and the full
compensation of military personnel.
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 25-13. Current Services Budget Authority by
Function, Category, and Program'' and ``Table 25-14. Current Services
Outlays by Function, Category, and
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Program,'' are on the enclosed Analytical Perspectives CD-ROM.
Budget System and Concepts
26. The Budget System and Concepts. This chapter includes a basic
reference to the budget process, concepts, laws, and terminology, and
includes a glossary of budget terms.
Other
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''.