1. Conflict and resolution in federal budgeting -- Conflict -- Resolution -- The two worlds of budgeting -- 2. The evolution of federal budgeting -- Legislative dominance : 1789-1921 -- Presidential dominance : 1921-74 -- Congress versus the president : 1974-2000 -- How the budget was balanced and unbalanced -- Is self-correction enough? -- Balanced budget amendment -- Conclusion -- 3. The budget's shifting boundaries -- Receipts, budgetary resources, and outlays -- Scope of the budget -- Measuring the budget -- Conclusion -- 4. The political rules and arithmetic of budgeting -- Overview of the annual budget cycle -- Discretionary and direct spending -- The politics of budgetary arithmetic -- Baseline projections -- Economic arithmetic -- The politics of scoring -- When politics meets economics -- Conclusion -- 5. The president's budget -- Presidential roles and styles -- Changes in presidential budgeting -- Formulating the president's budget -- The Office of Management and Budget -- Information in the president's budget -- The president's budget in congress -- The veto power -- Conclusion --

6. The congressional budget process -- Why congress has a budget resolution -- Structure and content of the budget resolution -- Binding rules and nonbinding sentiments -- The budget committees -- The Congressional Budget Office -- Formulating the budget resolution -- Floor action -- Why the resolution is rarely adopted on schedule -- The reconciliation process -- Enforcing congressional budget decisions -- Would a presidential role strengthen congressional budgeting? -- Conclusion -- 7. Revenue legislation -- Revenue legislation in congress -- PAYGO rules -- Impact of PAYGO on congressional behavior -- Tax expenditures -- Rates versus breaks : the 1980s versus the 1990s -- Cutting rates and adding breaks : tax policy in the new millennium -- Dynamic revenue scoring -- Trends in federal revenue -- Sources of federal revenue -- Who pays federal taxes? -- User charges -- Offsetting collections -- Conclusion --

8. Authorizing legislation -- Types of authorizing legislation -- Authorizing legislation in congress -- The relationship of authorizations and appropriations -- Direct spending legislation -- Conclusion -- 9. The appropriations process -- Types of appropriations acts -- Tradition and change -- The appropriations committees and their subcommittees -- Tradition and change on appropriations subcommittees -- Procedures and politics of committee action -- Procedures and politics of house and senate action -- Supplemental appropriations -- Continuing resolutions and omnibus appropriations -- Structure and content of appropriations measures -- Legislation and limitations in appropriations acts -- Interpreting appropriations measures -- Conclusion -- 10. Managing federal expenditures -- Spending budget resources -- Deviations from spending plans -- Managing agency finances -- Conclusion -- 11. Budgeting for the long term -- The adequacy of budget controls -- Budgeting for the future -- Lengthening the time horizon of budgeting -- Conclusion -- Federal budget-related Internet Websites -- Glossary.