At any given time, the budget of the government can either be a surplus or a deficit. A deficit often happens in situations where the government is seen to be spending more than the amount of taxes which it collects. Such a situation often leads to an increase in the national debt that is aimed at filling the gap between the actual money that the government has and the money needed to be spent. However, the rapid growth in the national debt has created pressure to reduce the budget deficit.
Action Taken by Congress Since 1985
Before 1985, the budget deficit was on an increase mainly because its control was at the discretion of the president. In 1985, Congress enacted the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act that had two approaches towards spending cuts. The first approach provided the president and Congress the opportunity to come to an agreement on the budget while at the same time honoring the annual targets that have been set on deficit reductions. Failure to come to an agreement then places the budget under automatic spending cuts. The process set mechanisms that allowed cancellation of spending in cases where they were in violation of the spending limits. In addition, the act allows for cutting of spending that relate to defense and non-defense activities. The act had set a timeline for the reduction of the country’s deficit from $200 billion in the year 1986 until it is finished in 1990. Targets were set for every year to ensure that the process becomes successful. Failure to meet the targets would have resulted in cuts in most of the federal programs ( Frankel, 2002) .
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Even with the efforts that have been put in place, the United States still faced more issues such as the terrorist attack that occurred on September 11 and the war on terror that led to the further financial crisis. The politicians had to take action that led to the Budget Control Act of 2011 which increased the budget limit of the country by $400 billion Weissert, C. S., & ( Weissert, 2006) . The bill also proposed $917 billion in spending cuts over a period of ten years that aims at reducing the government spending. The efforts taken by the United States are helping it recover, but at the same time go into more debt because of the fact that there is still a gap between the spending and revenues.
Measures necessary to Address Spending and Revenues
Over the years there have been debates between Congress and the White House on the measures which are needed to be adopted to address the issues of revenues and spending by balancing the two to ensure that there are no budget deficits (Werner, 2018) . There has been increased pressure from the politicians to restrict the unlimited ability of Congress to spend. The current debate between Congress and the White House is on the amount of spending where the Senate is seen to be passing a high budget even though it cannot be supported by the government revenues. The issue resulted in the federal shut down when Senator Rand Paul delayed the passing of the vote past midnight so as to complain about the current budget deficit. This was the second government that occurred in in less than three weeks.
Conclusion
The rapid budget deficit that was seen before 1985 alarmed the politicians who pressured Congress to come up with ways to reduce the deficit. The strategies used include the enactment of the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act of 1985 and the Budget Control Act of 2011. Other measures that have currently been used in addressing the issue of revenue and spending include increased pressure from the politicians to restrict the unlimited ability of Congress to spend
References
Frankel, J. A., Orszag, P. R., & Massachusetts Institute of Technology. (2002). American economic policy in the 1990s . Cambridge (Massachusetts: MIT Press.
Weissert, C. S., & Weissert, W. G. (2006). Governing health: The politics of health policy . Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Werner, E. (2018, 02 09). Senate passes sweeping spending bill, sends measure to House for crucial vote to end government shutdown. Retrieved from The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/house-leaders-scramble-to-win-support-for-budget-deal-ahead-of-midnight-deadline/2018/02/08/4812e996-0cd9-11e8-8b0d-891602206fb7_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.4010d4aa7641
