[Analytical Perspectives]
[Introduction]
[1. Introduction]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]



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                              INTRODUCTION

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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. On November 13, 2007, President Bush 
issued an Executive Order that formalizes the commitment of the U.S. 
government to spend the taxpayers' money wisely and more effectively 
every year. The performance assessment information is summarized in 
Chapter 2, ``Performance Improvement Initiative,'' 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 and further information on the PART process is 
available at www.omb.gov/part.
  Again this year, several large tables are included at http://
www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2009/spec.html for the electronic 
version of this volume and on the Analytical Perspectives CD-ROM 
enclosed with the printed version of this volume. A list of these items 
is in the Table of Contents.

                        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. Performance Improvement Initiative. 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 at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2009/
spec.html for the electronic version of this volume and on the 
Analytical Perspectives CD-ROM enclosed with the printed version of this 
volume.
   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 2009 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 federally-financed 
spending that yields long-term benefits. It presents information on 
annual spending on physical capital, research and development, and 
education and training, and on the cumulative capital stocks resulting 
from that spending. Also included in this chapter is material on the 
PART assessments related to direct Federal investment spending.
   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 available at http://
www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2009/spec.html for

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the electronic version of this volume and on the Analytical Perspectives 
CD-ROM enclosed with the printed version of this volume.
   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. Several detailed 
tables are available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2009/
spec.html for the electronic version of this volume and on the 
Analytical Perspectives CD-ROM enclosed with the printed version of this 
volume.
   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 available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/
fy2009/spec.html for the electronic version of this volume and on the 
Analytical Perspectives CD-ROM enclosed with the printed version of this 
volume.

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; 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 2007 with the estimates 
for that year published two years ago in the 2007 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).

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   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 Program,'' are available at http://
www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2009/spec.html for the electronic 
version of this volume and on the Analytical Perspectives CD-ROM 
enclosed with the printed version of this volume.

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 materials are available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/
omb/budget/fy2009/spec.html for the electronic version of this volume 
and on the Analytical Perspectives CD-ROM enclosed with the printed 
version of this volume.
     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''.