The Economy Ms. Dennis & Mr. Patten Participation in Government

The Economy Current Debt for the United States is: $17,193,647,337, The current population is: 317,089,758 The share per person is $54, The National Debt has increased $2.73 billion per day since September Budget deficits occur when we take in less money than we spend -- that is, when budget receipts are exceeded by outlays. Receipts come mostly from Income and Social Security taxes, paid by individual Americans.

Where does the money come from? Individual Income taxes: $1.1 trillion Corporate Income Taxes: $297 billion Social Security and other payroll taxes: $934 billion Excise taxes: $74 billion Estate and Gift taxes: $25 billion Customs duties $27 billion Other: $87 billion Total Revenue: $2.57 trillion

Where does the money go? Mandatory Spending: – Social Security: $730 billion – Medicare: $491 billion – Medicaid: $297 billion Troubled Asset Relief: $11 billion Job Initiatives: $25 billion Other: $612 billion Interest on debt: $251 billion Potential disaster costs: $3 billion

Where does the money go? Discretionary Spending Defense: $895 billion Other discretionary: $520 billion Total Spending $3.83 trillion Deficit: $1.27 trillion

Current Spending Social Security is a retirement trust fund. By design, it is presently running a surplus, building up money to pay benefits when the "baby boom" generation Social Security is not treated separately by the government. Instead it is used to pay current expenses.

The Economy – Unemployment: 7.3% of Americans are unemployed. That equals 12 million Americans out of work. In the 1930’s Franklin Roosevelt created the WPA (Works Progress Administration) it generated 8 million jobs to repair schools, hospitals, parks and highways. How do we create jobs to stimulate economic growth in the United States? Do we follow Roosevelt’s plan? Why or why not?

Balance the Federal Budget Now it’s your turn to try to balance the federal budget. You need to cut $300 billion dollars. What do you cut? What do you save?