PART 7 THE FEDERAL PROGRAM BY AGENCY AND ACCOUNT. Page 183 185 190 193 195 200 212 217 224 228 237 241 251 253 256 260 265 270 271 272 276 277 280 306 306 309 310 311 Table 6. Budget authority available through current action by Congress.. 316 Table 7. Outlays from budget authority available through current action by Congress.. 317 Table 8. Relation of budget authority to outlays.. 318 Table 9. Balances of budget authority.... 320 Table 10. Full-time permanent civilian employment in the executive branch.. Table 17. Legislative proposals for major new and expanded programs in the 1977 budget.. 356 Table 18. Budget receipts by source, 1967-77... 358 Table 19. Budget outlays by function, 1967–77_ 360 Table 20. Federal transactions in the national income accounts, 1966–77. 366 Table 21. Federal finances and the gross national product, 1954–77. 367 Table 22. Budget receipts and outlays, 1789–1977. 368 INDEX.. 369 BUDGET MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT To the Congress of the United States: The Budget of the United States is a good roadmap of where we have been, where we are now, and where we should be going as a people. The budget reflects the President's sense of priorities. It reflects his best judgment of how we must choose among competing interests. And it reveals his philosophy of how the public and private spheres should be related. Accordingly, I have devoted a major portion of my own time over the last several months to shaping the budget for fiscal year 1977 and laying the groundwork for the years that follow. As I see it, the budget has three important dimensions. One is the budget as an element of our economic policy. The total size of the budget and the deficit or surplus that results can substantially affect the general health of our economy-in a good way or in a bad way. If we try to stimulate the economy beyond its capacity to respond, it will lead only to a future whirlwind of inflation and unemployment. The budget I am proposing for fiscal year 1977 and the direction I seek for the future meet the test of responsible fiscal policy. The combination of tax and spending changes I propose will set us on a course that not only leads to a balanced budget within three years, but also improves the prospects for the economy to stay on a growth. path that we can sustain. This is not a policy of the quick fix; it does not hold out the hollow promise that we can wipe out inflation and unemployment overnight. Instead, it is an honest, realistic policy— a policy that says we can steadily reduce inflation and unemployment if we maintain a prudent, balanced approach. This policy has begun to prove itself in recent months as we have made substantial headway in pulling out of the recession and reducing the rate of inflation; it will prove itself decisively if we stick to it. A second important dimension of the budget is that it helps to define the boundaries between responsibilities that we assign to governments and those that remain in the hands of private institutions and individual citizens. Over the years, the growth of government has been gradual and uneven, but the trend is unmistakable. Although the predominant growth has been at the State and local level, the Federal Government has contributed to the trend too. We must not continue drift M3 ing in the direction of bigger and bigger government. The driving force of our 200-year history has been our private sector. If we rely on it and nurture it, the economy will continue to grow, providing new and better choices for our people and the resources necessary to meet our shared needs. If, instead, we continue to increase government's share of our economy, we will have no choice but to raise taxes and will, in the process, dampen further the forces of competition, risk, and reward that have served us so well. With stagnation of these forces, the issues of the future would surely be focused on who gets what from an economy of little or no growth rather than, as it should be, on the use to be made of expanding incomes and resources. As an improtant step toward reversing the long-term trend, my budget for 1977 proposes to cut the rate of Federal spending growth, year to year, to 5.5%-less than half the average growth rate we have experienced in the last 10 years. At the same time, I am proposing further, permanent income tax reductions so that individuals and businesses can spend and invest these dollars instead of having the Federal Government collect and spend them. A third important dimension of the budget is the way it sorts out priorities. In formulating this budget, I have tried to achieve fairness and balance: -between the taxpayer and those who will benefit by Federal spending; -between national security and other pressing needs; -between our own generation and the world we want to leave to our children; -between those in some need and those most in need; -between the programs we already have and those we would like to have; -between aid to individuals and aid to State and local governments; -between immediate implementation of a good idea and the need to allow time for transition; -between the desire to solve our problems quickly and the realization that for some problems, good solutions will take more time; and -between Federal control and direction to assure achievement of common goals and the recognition that State and local governments and individuals may do as well or better without restraints. Clearly, one of the highest priorities for our Government is always to secure the defense of our country. There is no alternative. If we |