We hear a lot of talk and several promises of how budgets are being cut, but that simply is not true - at least not in Washington.
The quickest way to tell if a budget or a specific program is being "cut" or reduced is to simply look at the bottom line number. If is not lower than the number for the previous fiscal year, it has not been cut in real terms - only in budgetary-speak.
Here's how it works. Take a program, any program. Say it was created 10 years ago at an original cost of $1 million. Let's say that over those 10 years, its budget has increased to $5 million. Next year they want a 10% increase in their budget - $500,000. They are told that times are tough and that they can't have their budget increase. They'll need to cut their budget.
Now, that would sound like the budget request would be less that the current $5 million, but that's not how the game is played.
Instead of submitting their budget request for $5,500,000 with the 10% increase in it, they sharpen their pencils, tighten their belts, and get ready for a very lean year with a requested budget increase of just 6% instead of 10%.
Thus, they still get $300,000 more than they had this year, but they slashed their budget. All they did was reduce the amount of the increase they wanted.
This is how budgets grow and grow while we hear how programs are being "cut."
What a system.
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Steve Hoffacker - Consultant, Coach, Author, Blogger, Photographer, Motivator, Teacher, & Strategist - for Realtors, Real Estate Sales Professionals, Home Builders, New Home Salespeople, Entreprenuers, Small Business Owners, and Independent Sales Representatives.
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