Question

HELP! The main reason Washington sets a budget every two years is to

A. fund elected officials’ re-election efforts.
B. reorganize the branches of government.
C. decide how to spend the money it takes in.
D. plan which agencies it can do away with.

Answer 1

Answer: C. decide how to spend the money it takes in.

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Step-by-step explanation:

A budget is just a list that lays out how a chunk of money is divided up among different groups or agencies. Think of a household budget where you assign a certain amount of money to rent, groceries, etc. Federal and state governments have budgets of their own so that they are held accountable by the citizens, and so programs can operate with some level of efficiency. Of course, there's often red tape and a lot of bureaucratic hoops to jump through, on top of wasteful spending, so it's not perfect by any means.

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Extra info:

• Choice A is false because elections are funded by private campaign dollars.
• Choice B is false because the branches of government are not reorganized unless some significant event in history occurs that triggers this change. An example would be the formation of the Department of Homeland Security back in 2001 which was in response to the events of 9/11. Though this reorganization occurred solely in the executive branch, this could be an example of when a reorganization may occur throughout the three branches.
• Choice D is false. Yes some agencies get less funding and that's part of life, but the entire agency itself is likely to not be cut overall. This is unless there's political will and ability to do so.

Answer 2

C. decide how to spend the money it takes in.

Step-by-step explanation:

The federal budget of the United States is the state budget of the federal government in the United States.

It is proposed by the President of the United States to the United States Congress. Due to the bicameral system of the United States, provided for by the Constitution of the United States, the Senate and the House of Representatives must approve and amend the budget, which eventually goes to the President for signature. If the president uses his veto on the budget, the latter returns to the Congress, where the veto can be canceled by two-thirds of the voters. A shutdown of government activities in the United States generally occurs when the president and one or both chambers fail to reach agreement on budget allocations before the end of the current budget cycle.

The management and control of public accounts is carried out by several agencies including the Department of the Treasury, the Government Accountability Office, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Office of Management and Budget.

There are two types of expenses:

-Mandatory or automatic expenditure (pensions, social protection, state aid programs such as food stamps) depend on existing laws and are automatically renewed each year. They are increasing structurally for demographic reasons and costs of medical treatments. At the beginning of the 2010s, these expenses represented more than 60% of the budget of the Federal Government;

-Discretionary spending, representing less than 40% of the budget, the levels of which are set each year by budget laws voted by Congress members. They therefore concern the defense budget (half of these expenses), diplomacy, foreign aid, education, justice, research, and so on.