this is the intro

Budget Briefs

Charts

The federal budget is classified into 'on-budget' and 'off-budget' items. 'Off-budget' spending includes the Social Security Trust Funds and the U.S. Postal Office.

The following table shows spending in 2009 dollars (i.e. controlled for inflation) of national defense spending since 1940. National defense is a category of spending defined by the government.

A deficit is when the outlays exceed revenues and a surplus is when revenues exceed outlays.

With a national debt of about $8 trillion, it is clear why this issue has assumed such political and economic significance.