Watch the following video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44rQux8JfpsNEXT: Answer the following questions in a (01-02) page paper (120 words or more) Question one : Develop a digital (online and mob

Original Question:

Topic: The politics and policy of taxes and deficit spending.
As you have seen, public budgeting is inherently political. Indeed, it is driven by an acutely political cycle: For example: 1) Politicians promise benefits in order to get elected; 2) Those promised benefits often come at high expense; 3) If campaign promises are to be kept, taxes must be raised or reorganized in order to transfer and transform private wealth into government revenue to cover those expenses; 4) Individuals losing wealth through higher taxes may seek to remove from office the politicians that raised their taxes, and so on. In light of this cycle, many individuals, institutions, political challengers and think tanks may work to hold elected officials accountable for their public budgeting decisions. In this week's discussion board forum, please provide and explain an example of political strategies used to hold elected officials accountable for taxing/spending policy and an example of a political strategy used by politicians to avoid the potentially negative consequences of deficit spending or tax increases.  

APA citations/references required

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1.

There are six political strategies used to hold elected officials accountable for taxing and spending policies. It is important to note that although all the strategies mentioned below are common in agency and program funding, they have not always been effective.

1.     Please the politicians. Agency heads include information regarding elected officials budgets, policy preferences and pet projects. In the bureau chiefs budget request, the goals of the legislator are included, such as increased food safety, fewer child deaths, or lower rates of errors in billing” (Rubin, 2016, pg. 149). Department heads alters their budget request to include the preferences to what the legislative body deems important. Trying to please politicians can be costly and less efficient. However, disregarding the desires of legislators can potential cause programs to lose support.  

2.     Build a geographic coalition. Administrators try to establish program funds that will benefit everyone. However, this is not always possible. To gain support, administrators expand smaller programs to a various amount of geographic locations. This helps win the support of other legislators in different states and thus build alliances large enough to pass legislation (Rubin, pg. 150).

3.     Build broader coalitions by adding constituencies. According to Rubin, adding “a program that serves a different constituency or demonstrate a policy goal or achievement that appeals to a different set of legislators [will expand] the potential coalition of support” (2016, pg. 151). Transportation is a good example of this. Highways and mass transits are two forms of transportation and serves rural areas and larger urban areas.

4.     Demonstrate effectiveness and efficiency. Budget cuts could potentially be opposed if agencies can find a way to achieve goals that Congress supports in an effective manner. For example, “In 2012, as agencies prepared to submit reduced budgets… the director of the executive Office of Management and Budget urged agencies to use evidence evaluation in setting priorities for their budget requests” (Rubin, pg. 151-152).

5.     Link programs to goals of (nearly) unlimited value. National security, economic development, job creation, and saving lives are all examples of programs with goals of unlimited or nearly unlimited value that do not need proof of efficiency or effectiveness. The concept “spending more money after a disaster will save lives” is not always applicable. In 2015, several lives were loss in a massive Amtrak train wreck in Philadelphia. After the incident, democrats wanted to spend millions on technology improvement for Amtrak. The opposing side wanted to make cuts so they wouldn’t go over the 2011 cap being that the cause of the accident was still unknown. They believed that the money would be better spent on safety advances (Rubin, pg. 152-154).

6.     Make programs look cheap or free. Spreading out the cost of programs throughout years makes them appear to be low and insignificant. Programs can also appear to be cheaper or free by changing accounting and reporting rules. For example, the choice of structure in college loans affect how the actual costs appear (Rubin, pg. 155-156).

Rubin, Irene S. (2016). The politics of public budgeting: Getting and spending, borrowing and balancing. 8th ed. Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2016. ISBN: 9781506354804.

2.

Many candidates running for office promise benefits during their campaigns. Unfortunately, their promises do not always come to fruition. These promises become increasingly risky when they are related to taxing and spending policies. American citizens have access to many strategies of attempting to hold elected officials and the government accountable for taxation and spending policies. The U.S. Freedom of Information Act allows citizens to petition to government agencies to release records to increase transparency (ShareAmerica, 2016). Coupled with these documents and an app called “Open the Books”, American citizens can monitor government spending in real time (ShareAmerica, 2016). With these elements alone, American citizens can track the past and present spending habits of the government to see if campaign promises are being upheld. When there are violations of these promises, there are laws in the United States that protects whistleblowers in reporting improper government activity (ShareAmerica, 2016). The mass media coverage of government proceedings aids in holding the government accountable as it’s successes and shortcomings are broadcasted throughout the nation. 

Governmental budgetary deficits and deficit spending are risky and can lead to catastrophic economic issues. One of the issues deficits can pose is crowding out (Thoma, 2011). Crowding out occurs when deficit spending raises interest rates, causing the government to compete with the private sector to finance its deficit spending (Thoma, 2011). This can lead to low economic growth that can take years to reverse. These sort of issues can lead to inflation, where the government prints new money to replenish its debt with the private sector. These behaviors are lead by politicians with failed campaign promises. They must be held accountable for these actions as the consequences of their actions can be dire. Deficit spending is essential to boosting economic growth in the country, but this requires a high level of discretion and judgement (Amadeo, 2019). When done correctly, deficit spending can boost the economy and nearly guarantee reelection as their strategies have boosted economic growth. The efforts politicians make to boost economic growth must be monitored as well. Their actions must be monitored and stopped before they become dangerous. 

The nature of the United States government empowers the populous nearly as much as the government. It takes motivated, caring patriots to track these issues and report issues when they arise. For decades public officials have avoided raising taxes but in recent years they seem to be moving away from this ideology. The national debt and deficit are growing and elected officials are faced with a tough decision. It is on the America citizens to ensure the government and elected officials are held accountable to taxation and spending policy. The national budget affects every American in some way. It is our responsibility to preserve it. 

Romans 14:12 “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God."

Amadeo, K. (2019, May 06). Why US Deficit Spending Is Out of Control. Retrieved from https://www.thebalance.com/deficit-spending-causes-why-it-s-out-of-control-3306289

Holy Bible 

S. (2016, December 13). 4 ways you can hold officials accountable. Retrieved May 28, 2019, from https://share.america.gov/4-ways-you-can-hold-officials-accountable/

Thoma, M. (2011, May 22). Government Deficits: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/government-deficits-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/

3.

Economists have based their fiscal policy recommendations on the assumption that government spends wisely and efficiently to benefit society. In practice, however, government runs inefficiently and policymakers are motivated by re-elections and personal ambition. Citizens cannot regulate policymakers but we can hold them accountable for their decisions at the ballot box. There are political strategies that are used to keep politicians accountable for their fiscal policies.

One strategy used to hold politicians accountable for their spending policies would to demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the programs they are championing. Based on the perception that most government agencies are inefficient, we should demand that "agencies that have been criticized for inefficiency or those that have had difficulty demonstrating their effectiveness sometimes engage respected sources to do performance evaluations and then use these evaluations in budget justifications to demonstrate that they are doing a good job" (Rubin, 2016, p. 151). The passage of the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) by Congress made demonstrating agency performance easier. Agency performance data is also used by the executive branch when preparing budgets. such was the case in 2012 when "the director of the executive Office of Management and Budget urged agencies to use evidence and evaluation in setting priorities for their budget request" (Rubin, p. 151).

Politicians also have tools they can use to get the funding for their earmarks or campaign promises. One such strategy used by politicians is to make a program look inexpensive by "underestimating the costs or spreading them out over several years" (Rubin, p. 155). This strategy can also be applied in reverse by "those who wish to curtail a program or cut its budget often work to make invisible expenditures clearer or exaggerate the cost in a variety of other ways" (Rubin, p. 155). This strategy will result in a battle of differing cost estimates which creates a need for a neutral analyst. An example of this type of political maneuvering would be taking money from a fund set aside for emergencies and funding a program that was promised during the campaign, while also making good on another promise of not raising taxes. There are other instances when changes in accounting and reporting rules can have the same effect in making a program look less or more expensive. 

There are many strategies politicians use to manipulate the budget process. They are able to this because budgets are complicated and politicians are not concerned with the greater good of their city, state, or country.

References:

Rubin, Irene S. (2016). The Politics of Public Budgeting. SAGE Publications. Kindle Edition. 

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