A People's Guide to the Federal Budget

Gr 10 Up–At the risk of inundating readers with sheer numbers, pie charts, and assorted graphics The People’s Guide takes a singularly dry topic and admirably makes it accessible to the masses. A solid review of “Where Does the Money Come From?” and “Where Does the Money Go?” lays the groundwork for an analysis of the Federal Debt and Obama’s 2013 Budget Request. The specific aim for this text is to help readers understand Obama’s 2013 proposed budget, a call to action if you will, with an aim to nonpartisan presentation. The text is carefully laid out in a highly digestible and sequential format. It includes simple, layperson’s concepts such as our Social Security wage tax holiday, down to 4.2 percent until the end of 2012, upon which the elucidation of more complex tax topics can be built. A more complex graphic is a bar graph with a 70-year review of “Revenues, Outlays, Deficits and Surpluses”–and current deficits versus outlays aren’t looking good! In the “Take Action” chapter, a proactive chart provides a month-by-month layout of “Opportunities to Take Action” leading up to October 1, the new fiscal year. Readers would be well served by having a solid grasp of basic government fiscal machinations prior to reading this guide. With clearly presented concepts, consistently referring back to prior explanatory text, there is a wealth of data packed into every page.–Meredith Toumayan, Topsfield Town Library, MA