Understanding the relationship between the federal budget and government policy is difficult even for full-time budget wonks. For the rest of us, it’s almost impossible. The biggest problem isn’t that we can’t get to the right information, it’s just that the information isn’t easy to use, and we have a hard time visualizing the context of budget decisions.
That’s why we’re bringing you the US Visual Budget tool via this site. This web-based application brings this context and understanding to the forefront. With this application you can:
- Compare aspects of the budget to one another – from branches of government to individual crosscutting functions like energy or international affairs
- Examine changes over time – going back to the Kennedy administration, but soon all the way back to that of George Washington
- See what spending decisions were made in what sort of political climate – by House, Senate, or Presidential party
- See numbers in real dollars, in nominal dollars, or as a percentage of GDP, and print any chart that you create for use elsewhere
Click here to open the Visual Budget Tool