Government Budget Spending Process (dollar, money, federal government, program)

[psychofan]

I wish the federal government would revise the annual budget process at the actual spending level. The way the system is set up now, there is ABSOLUTELY no incentive for any program, office, division, institute, agency, and department (I'm moving up the ladder from the ground level up to the Departmental, i.e., X Program within the Y Office of Z Division at A Institute of B Department) to save money and decrease spending. Every September as the government approaches the end of the fiscal year, there is widespread panic to SPEND every dollar that was budgeted. If money is not spent, then there is the fear that the next or future fiscal year's budget would be reduced by that amount thus many view it as a PUNISHMENT for not spending. This is utterly ridiculous and leads to rampant and wasteful spending that one would not have normally do just for the sake of burning the budget (e.g. funding lower tiered research or proposals). What happens when the all the budget is spent? The string of spenders from program to Department then turns around and ASKS for more money the next fiscal year hence the cycle continues. This is how the government works, folks! Time to change it. This is not a Democrat or Republican issue, this is inane fact of the process (the same budget process in most of the private sector world especially corporations).

No incentives to watch spending at all. Sad.