This volume explores the topics relating to the federal budget of the United States by presenting varied expert opinions that examine many of the different aspects that comprise these issues. The viewpoints are selected from a wide range of highly respected and often hard-to-find sources and publications. Allows the reader to attain the higher-level critical thinking and reading skills that are essential in a culture of diverse and contradictory opinions.

How effective is the current federal budget process? The federal budget process should be reformed / Jim Bates ; A PAYGO statute is an effective budgetary policy / Alice M. Rivlin ; A PAYGO statute is bad budgetary policy / Brian M. Riedl ; The supplemental appropriations process is currently being abused / Veronique de Rugy ; Earmarks are bad budgetary policy / Mike Pence ; Earmarks are effective budgetary policy / Robert Shrum -- How do federal budget deficits affect the nation's economy? Federal budget deficits are harmful to the nation's economy / Concord Coalition ; Budget deficits are not as harmful to the economy as many claim / Alan Reynolds ; The federal budget deficit should not be the central focus of U.S. economic policy / Thomas Palley ; Meeting the nation's needs is more important than balancing the federal budget / Joseph Stiglitz ; The federal budget should both meet the nation's needs and eliminate the deficit / Alice M. Rivlin ; Expanded government spending cannot be maintained / Veronique de Rugy -- How should federal budget revenue be raised? Federal revenue could be boosted by collecting taxes currently owed by citizens / Albert B. Crenshaw ; To bring in enough revenue to afford the American way of life, taxes must be raised / Donna Schaper ; To bring in enough revenue to match spending, taxes should be raised on corporations and the wealthy / Robert L. Borosage and Celinda Lake ; The wealthy already bear too much of the federal tax burden / J.T. Young ; The U.S. needs a new value-added tax to increase budget revenue / Bruce Bartlett ; The U.S. should implement a sin tax to increase budget revenue / Nick Gillespie ; The U.S. should not implement a sin tax / Robert A. Sirico -- How should federal budget money be spent? Federal defense spending should be increased / Valerie Lynn Baldwin ; Federal defense spending should be cut / James Surowiecki ; Too much of the federal budget has gone to the Iraq War / Robert Pollin and Heidi Garrett-Peltier ; Too much of the federal budget is spent on health care / George Krumbhaar ; Too much of the federal budget is spent on entitlements and other social welfare programs / Richard M. Ebeling ; Spending on some entitlement programs is actually decreasing / Aviva Aron-Dine and Robert Greenstein ; Increased spending has not improved education / Tom Bethell.