Where Does the Money Go?: Your Guided Tour to the Federal Budget Crisis | 
 enlarge | Authors: Scott Bittle, Jean Johnson
Publisher: Collins Business
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
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Rating:  21 reviews
Sales Rank: 18177
Media: Paperback
Pages: 336
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.8
ISBN: 0061241873
Dewey Decimal Number: 336.73
EAN: 9780061241871
ASIN: 0061241873
Publication Date: February 1, 2008
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Product Description
From the editors of the award-winning nonpartisan Web site Public Agenda Online comes this irreverent and candid guide to the federal budget crisis that breaks down into plain English exactly what the fat cats in Washington are arguing about Federal debt will affect your savings, your retirement, your mortgage, your health care, and your children. How well do you understand the government decisions that will end up coming out of your pocket? Here is essential information that every American citizen needs—and has the right—to know. This guide to deciphering the jargon of the country's budget problem covers everything from the country's $9 trillion and growing debt to the fact that, for thirty-one out of the last thirty-five years, the country has spent more on government programs and services than it has collected in taxes. It also explores why elected leaders on every side of the fence have so far failed to effectively address this issue and explains what you can do to protect your future.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 16 more reviews...
 Great Balanced Commentary November 20, 2008
Nitin Bhojraj (Chicago, IL)
Even though the election is now over, don't think that you can stop caring about the Federal Budget Crisis. In this book, the authors give an incisive and balanced look at the budget, and why it's not working. More importantly, there is a great deal of discussion on what you should and should not believe when it comes to political jargon, or biased pundit commentary. I recommend this book to everyone, as it is a great starting point to understand not only the budget, but also issues like Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and how they relate to budget policy.
 Important for future generations November 4, 2008
Jack L. Meyers (Corona del Mar, CA USA)
A very easy and informative read which lays out the issues very clearly and recognizes the need for them to be addressed now. I've recomended the book to all my friends and have purchased copies for my family.
 Too much fluff November 2, 2008
Rusty Rothwell (Louisville, KY)
'Where Does the Money Go' is an objective, easy, and informative read for anyone interested in the spending habits of our Federal government. It contains many important and up-to-date statistics, helpful graphs/charts, and an overwhelming amount of reference for further reading. Furthermore, there is a very interesting chapter that lays out the budget and lets you play politician; you allocate money based on your personal opinions and you discover where your budget ends up. This exercise puts a little substance to all of the reading.
While I do think this book is a good read, especially during a time with the big promises from our Presidential nominees and multi-billion dollar bailouts, I found this book to be a bit fluff. There first 150+ pages were good, but after that the book seems to drag on. Given the fact that this book is more of a broad introduction to the subject, it should have been wrapped up in 150-200 pages, not 300+. The last few chapters drift off subject.
Informative, provacative and very timely October 16, 2008
George Fulmore (Concord, California USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Writing this review during the 2008 Presidential campaign and amidst the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, I find the book, "Where Does the Money Go?" informative, provocative and very, very timely. If either of the Presidential candidates had read the book before the final debate, I think either would have scored meaning points with the viewers. Instead, when asked to comment on the federal debt, neither seemed to want to address it. Or, maybe neither really had the knowledge conveyed in this comprehensive, easy-to-read, very worthwhile book.
The first thing that I like about the book is that it clearly invites the reader in as if the reader has nothing to worry about, as if there are no "dumb" questions. At no time did I ever feel that the authors were talking down to me or expecting me to have a level of knowledge beyond the average reader. So, in this sense, the book appears to be meant to be a primer, but it goes well beyond that. It clearly goes on to give the reader a high level of insight into how the federal budget works and what the ramifications are to reducing the debt amassed.
Suggestions are made and alternatives are presented. But, like the climate-change or energy-independence issues, the book does not tell us that there is any one easy answer. In fact, there may not be ANY easy answers. It will be HARD to reduce the federal debt. HARD!
No one should come away from the solution without sacrifices. To make it work, we simply need to make dramatic changes in our expectations of what we have coming from our government. We have maxed out on our credit cards, and now the "rent" is due. Not only do we have to pay our future dues - including those connected with entitlements to our seniors - we have to pay off our credit cards AT THE SAME TIME!
Some of the major points made by the book:
* The federal government, with 2.7 million civilian employees, plus another 1.4 million military personnel is by far the largest employer in the country.
* The United States is seemingly addicted to spending more than it takes in.
* For the last 31 out of 35 years, the country has spent more than it has taken in.
* The U.S. has been running a trade deficit every year since 1970.
* Polls show that just one in four Americans favor raising taxes to reduce budget deficits.
* Most Americans do not want Social Security and/or Medicare benefits to be reduced, nor do they want to reduce defense spending.
* Any politician who ran a campaign on raising taxes and lowering spending would probably lose.
* The Social Security Trust Fund holds IOUs, not real money. More than $2 trillion has been "borrowed" by a government that seemingly has no way to pay that money back.
* Even if the War in Iraq were to end today and the Bush tax cuts were to expire today, we still would not be headed toward a balanced budget for the next fiscal year. Things are that bad!
* The IRS estimates that the "gap" between what individuals pay in federal income taxes and what they should be paying is more than $300 billion each year, with 80% of this estimated to come from partnerships and small businesses. But this is an example of relative "chicken feed" in relation to our total national debt.
* Even eliminating all waste, fraud and earmark spending in the federal government would do little to dent the increases in the federal debt.
* Japan and China, alone, hold a total of more than $1 trillion of the U.S. debt that is now more than $10 trillion and growing.
* 2010 will be the "high noon" of budget politics. This is when we have to take our first real "shot" at solving our problem.
* We need to have broken our plan down into little pieces, so that each can implemented in isolation.
* All Americans need to feel that they are doing their fair-share in making sacrifices.
* Significant changes have to be made in the way the federal budget is proposed, approved, overseen and communicated.
One chapter of the book actually invites the reader to make changes to the federal budget to put it in balance. 14 pages of federal budget categories and costs are given, and the reader is invited to reduce area as he/she feels appropriate to reduce. And there is a chapter about how to take statements by politicians with a "grain of salt." But, for my money, the best chapter of the book is the one that gives us the "Six Realities We Need to Accept to Solve This Problem." Two of these are 1) that we need to start now, and 2) that we need to move toward a "different state of mind" in our country about what we spend federal money on, how we can balance our budget on a regular basis, and how we can decrease our national debt, so that we are not the biggest debtor nation in the world.
The book ends with references (not including the National Committee for the Preservation of Social Security and Medicare, unfortunately) to guide you toward more information.
To me, the payback in reading the book is that it leaves you with is a feeling that 1) you better understand the components involved with the national debt, 2) you better understand the importance of the problem, and 3) that you are now part of the solution, not just the problem.
As a nation, we clearly need to put the shovel down and stop digging the hole we are in. I highly recommend this book as a basis of building a more informed, more involved populous relative to the changes that must come in our country, involved with the way we collect and spend money at the federal level. This is NOT a problem that we can ignore any longer. There is no way that it will go away by itself.
wheredoes the money go October 15, 2008
Dr. M. Daniel
it makes something vey complicated(or so the government wants us to believe)simple for the TAXPAYER to somewhat understand.
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