By: Brett Brooks, Parvathi Pillai, and Chandler Welch

 Fiscal policy is the taxing and spending policies of the government. In the United States, the president typically submits his budget as a proposal to congress. His budget contains the spending provisions and tax rates levied in the next fiscal year. Congress debates and then votes on the budget submitted by the president, inevitably making changes. When Congress passes the budget it is sent back to the president in its amended form. If the president approves, he signs the bill and budget becomes law. If he disapproves, he vetoes the bill and sends it back to Congress with a list of his objections. If there is sufficient support in the Congress to override the president's veto (2/3's majority in both houses) the bill becomes law in its current form, If not, then Congress and the president negotiate until they have a bill acceptable to both sides, which then becomes law

 The main reason the Federal Reserve has independence in establishing monetary policy is because it removes politics from the decision making process. As the Fed is a separate entity that elected officials and members of the administration are not allowed to serve on the board. Even though congress set up the framework for the fed, they do not interfere.  Social Security is financed through a dedicated payroll tax. Employers and employees each pay 6.2% of wages up to the taxable maximum of $117,000 while self-employed pay 12.4%. Some of the program’s challenges include rising life expectancy which means there is an aging population that may run out of money. Another problem is the declining fertility rate which means less money from the younger population for the program.

 Go to and-9-apgovt-flash-cards/ and-9-apgovt-flash-cards/  Or go to Quizlet search Chandler_Welch under users and look for Unit 8 and 9 AP Gov’t