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Federal Budget Policy (January 2017)

Class Five -- Monday, January 9, 2016

In today's class, we will begin our discussion of presidential spending powers. To introduce the topic, please read over Chapter Five (The President's Budget). You should also take a few minutes to explore the most recent presidential budget, which the Obama Administration produced in February 2016. See https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget. After review these preliminary materials, our class discussion will focus on a debate between Professors Stith and Sidak over the power of the purse. (The Boland Amendment, which figures heavily into the Stith and Sidak debate, is an example of an appropriations rider, a topic explored in a briefing paper assigned as optional reading for Class Four and a legislative tool of continuing significance.) Team Assignment: (Teams A & E): Please prepare a few powerpoint slides evaluating the relative merits of Professor Stith’s and Professor Sidak’s arguments. Two additional recent articles on presidential budgeting and financial reporting by Pasachoff and Harris are posted for background reading only.