Baseline vs. Zero Based Budgeting

[majorwhiteapples]

The spending issue stems from how the budgets are prepared. In any business each organization must present it's case for existence and justify their budgetary needs.

The government uses Baseline budgeting which gives them what they had last year and then they have to justify how much more they get in the new year, which is almost always a compromised figure resulting in a net increase.

That is a basic summary as I understand it, I would like additional information as I am trying to understand why we let these politicos rob us blind.

 

[Uninformed]

What you say is true and if the money isn't spent it cannot be kept for a rainy day. However, this is a drop in the bucket compared to entitlements which have been steadily rising at a rate much faster than inflation. Then there is defense spending which is large but significantly less than entitlements and luckily is declining.

 

[majorwhiteapples]

The more I read about baseline budgeting I have to ask myself are F#$@ing kidding me? Baseline budgeting is basically a blank check coupled with no Balance Budget law.

In my opinion a department should have to justify the funds they receive every year. I don't care if it is difficult, this is the public's money.

The other issue that I have is that so many committee's now can authorize or request funding. It used to be only one or two committee's that could release funds. Now every committee can and allows for more hands in the cookie jar.

The Federal government needs to be overhauled and reorganized.

Defense spending issues come from the 1960's and the Robert McNamara way of doing business. McCain has been trying to undo all of that for a long time. It is a joke how they procure things.

They are all criminals, we need term limits!!!!!! Career Politico's are bad for our country.

 

[TahoeHorn]

I don't have a problem with the budgeting. Budgeting methodology doesn't determine or drive the decision-making. It does make it easier for Congress yo misrepresent things to the public but don't think for a moment that changing the budgeting method will in any way change that. Or affect the decision-making process.

I had an obsessive compulsive boss who prepared elaborate personal financial records, complete with a monthly balance sheet, income statement, sources and uses of funds and a budget variance report. He told me that in his monthly financial meeting with his wife (which she despised) he couldn't get across to her that the monthly budget variance on hair care and cosmetics and such was due to her spending over budget, not his. (His wife was a frumpy VP of a bank with very modest personal expenditures, and planned to spend what she needed to irrespective of his budget). He explained to me that he was going to spend the weekend restructuring his chart of accounts separating her expenses from his so that such variances were more clear. They later got divorced. Budgeting methodology wasn't the problem there either.

Don't think gfor a minute that you can change Congressional spending by changing the way CBO prepares budgets. Like my boss's wife they'll spend what they want to regardless of what the bookkeeper says.