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Citizen's Guide to the Federal Budget: Fiscal Year 1999

Federal Budget 1999 Chart Descriptions

Chart 1-1. Government Spending as a Share of GDP, 1997

Chart 1-1 represents total Federal Government spending in the U.S.
Item 1. Total Government spending in the U.S. accounts for 30% of the national economy, or gross domestic product, in 1997. Private spending accounts for 70% of the gross domestic product.
Item 2. Total Federal spending accounts for 20% of the gross domestic product, while total state and local spending account for 12%.
Item 3. 3% of Total Federal spending is federal grants to local and state governments, while 17% is spending for direct federal programs.
Item 4. 3% of Total State and local spending is from federal grants. 9% of total state and local spending is from state and local revenues.

Chart 1-2. Total Government Outlays as a Percent of GDP

Chart 1-2 represents government outlays as a percent of the gross domestic product of 7 industrialized nations. The nations represented on the chart are: the United States of America, Japan, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France, and Italy. The y-axis of the chart is percentage of GPD; the x-axis is the year, from 1981 to 1996. In 1996, the United States allocated the smallest percentage (33%) of its GDP to government than the other six nations charted.

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Chart 2-1. Family and Budgeting

Chart 2-1 illustrates a family planning a budget. Above the representation of a family is a thought bubble containing 7 items. These items are Household Appliances, Transportation, Clothing, Housing, Food, Education, and Restaurants/Entertainment. These items represent all the things the family needs to take into consideration while planning a budget.

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Chart 2-2. National Budgeting

Chart 2-2 illustrates the United States Government planning the budget. Pictured above the White House and the Capitol is a thought bubble containing 7 items. These items are Crime Prevention, Environmental Cleanup, Child Nutrition, Education, Military, Research, and Health Care. These items represent all the things the Government needs to take into consideration while planning the budget.

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Chart 2-3. The Federal Government Dollar- Where It Comes From

Chart 2-3 represents total Federal Government revenues, consisting of 5 items.
Item 1. Corporate Income Taxes 11%.
Item 2. Social Insurance Payroll Taxes 34%.
Item 3. Individual Income Taxes 46%.
Item 4. Excise Taxes 4%.
Item 5. Other 5%.

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Chart 2-4. Composition of Revenues

Chart 2-4 is a percentage graph chart, representing 100 percent of total Federal Government revenue. Charted on the graph are five sources of revenue which make up the total Federal Government revenue. These sources are Social Insurance Taxes, Excise Taxes, Corporation Income Taxes, Individual Income Taxes, and Other. Each source represents a percentage of the total Federal Government revenue for a given year, ranging from 1956 to 2003. The chart depicts how each of these sources fluctuate in its percentage of the total revenue from year to year. Between 1960 and 1997, payroll taxes have increased substantially as a percent of GDP, and corporate income taxes have declined, but individual income taxes have remained roughly constant.

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Chart 2-5. Revenues as a Percent of GDP—Comparison With Other Countries

Chart 2-5 represents Government revenues as a percent of the Gross Domestic Product of 7 industrialized nations. The nations represented on the chart are: the United States of America, Japan, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France, and Italy. The y-axis of the chart is the percentage of GDP; the x-axis is the year, from 1981 to 1996. Before 1983, Japan's revenues were the lowest, but equaled the United States in 1996. From 1983 to 1995, the United States had the lowest revenues as a percent of GDP of the 7 countries listed, staying at around 30%.

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Chart 2-6. The Federal Government Dollar—Where It Goes

Chart 2-6 is a pie chart representing Federal Government spending for 1999. The chart is made up of nine items, each representing a percentage of total Government spending.

Item 1. Social Security 23%.
Item 2. Net Interest 14%.
Item 3. Medicare 12%.
Item 4. Medicaid 6%.
Item 5. Other Means-tested entitlements 6%. (Footnote: Means-tested entitlements are those for which eligibility is based on income. The Medicaid program is also a means-tested entitlement.)
Item 6. Remaining entitlements 6%.
Item 7. Reserve pending Social Security reform 1%.
Item 8. Non-defense discretionary 17%.
Item 9. National defense 15%.

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Chart 2-7. On- and Off-Budget Deficit Projections

Chart 2-7 shows the on- and off-budget deficit projections. It is represented by a line-graph consisting of the Budget deficit (excluding off-budget items Social Security and Postal Service, Footnote: By law, the Social Security trust funds and the Postal Service are "off-budget."), and the unified budget surplus from 1997 to 2003. The lines show that as the unified budget surplus increases, budget deficit decreases.

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Chart 4-1. Past and Future Budget Deficits or Surpluses

Chart 4-1 illustrates the rise and fall of the budget in deficit and surplus from 1940 projected through 2003. The y-axis represents budget values in billions of dollars, starting with a positive value of 100 (surplus) and ranging up to -350 (deficit). The x-axis represents the range of years from 1940 through 2003. Deficits began increasing dramatically in the 1980s, but have declined. The President's budget proposes to reach balance in 1999 and continue to rise with a surplus in the following years.

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Chart 4-2. Outlays as a Percent of GDP

Chart 4-2 is a percentage graph chart, representing up to 25% of the Gross Domestic Product. Charted on the graph are six outlays which make up the total Federal Government spending for the years 1965 through 1998. These outlays are Net Interest, Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, Other Mandatory, National Defense, and Non-Defense Discretionary. Each outlay represents spending as a percentage of GDP. The chart depicts how each of these outlays fluctuate in its percentage of the total GDP from year to year.

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Chart 4-3. Total Government Surplus or Deficit as a Percent of GDP

Chart 4-3 shows the total Federal Government Surplus as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product in comparison to six other countries. The nations represented on the chart are: the United States of America, Japan, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France, and Italy. The y-axis of the chart represents what percentage of the GDP that the budget deficit or surplus is; the x-axis is the year, from 1981 to 1996. The total Government budget deficit in the United States is low in comparison to the other economies, the United Kingdom and Japan are the only economies that had a surplus during this time frame.

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Chart 4-4. Interest Costs as a Percent of Income Tax Revenues

Chart 4-4 shows the interest costs as a percentage of income tax revenues from 1955 projected through 2003. The y-axis represents percent of income tax revenues, and the x-axis represents the year from 1955 to 2003. The interest costs started at 10% in 1955, rose slightly to 15% in 1979, and jumped to 33% in 1985. In 1994, the interest costs began declining, and is projected to reach 20% in 2003.

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Chart 5-1. Cuts in Civilian Employment

Chart 5-1 consists of 7 items which depict the yearly cuts (in thousands) of full time equivalent positions in Federal employment.

Item 1: In 1993, 16,000 full time equivalent positions were cut.
Item 2: In 1994, 103,000 full time equivalent positions were cut.
Item 3: In 1995, 185,000 full time equivalent positions were cut.
Item 4: In 1996, 264,000 full time equivalent positions were cut.
Item 5: In 1997, 321,000 full time equivalent positions were cut.
Item 6: In 1998, 318,000 full time equivalent positions are projected to be cut.
Item 7: In 1999, 331,000 full time equivalent positions are projected to be cut.

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Last updated: March 29, 2004
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