ABSTRACT

This chapter covers the different ways of slicing and dicing the federal budget in order to facilitate budget planning and analysis. An addendum applies the cross-cutting approach to revenues. The discretionary vs. mandatory slice-and-dice best displays the trends that have resulted in the current budget crunch. Mandatory spending has taken over an increasingly larger share of the budget, threatening ability to control federal debt levels. Budget functions present a slice-and-dice that is particularly useful for policy analysts. Budget functions are three-digit labels that classify budget spending according to policy objective. The best place to find funding allocations by budget function is the Public Budget Database, on Office of Management and Budget (OMB's) web site. That database provides not only current numbers but also a consistent set of historical numbers going back to 1976 and 1962. The federal government gets funds from two major sources: funds that stem from the government's sovereign power and funds that stem from commercial-type transactions.