Chapter 13

Question 1

Revenues

Answer 1

The financial resources of the govern-ment. The individual income tax and Social Security tax are two major sources of the federal goverment’s revenue.

Question 2

Expenditures

Answer 2

Government spending. Major areas of federal spending are social services and national defense.

Question 3

Tax expenditures

Answer 3

Revenue losses that result from special exemptions, exclusions, or deductions allowed by federal tax law.

Question 4

Social security act

Answer 4

A 1935 law intended to provide a minimal level of sustenance to older Americans and thus save them from poverty.

Question 5

Medicare

Answer 5

A program added to the Social Security system in 1965 that provides health insurance for the elderly, covering hospi-talization, doctor fees, and other health expenses.

Question 6

Incrementalism

Answer 6

Incrementalism means making small changes over time instead of big changes all at once.

Question 7

Uncontrollable expenditures

Answer 7

Expenditures that are determined by how many eligible beneficiaries there are for a program or by previous obligations of the government and that Congress therefore cannot easily control.

Question 8

Appropriations bill

Answer 8

An appropriations bill is a law that says how the government can spend its money. It tells different parts of the government how much money they get

Question 9

Continuing resolutions

Answer 9

When Congress cannot reach agreement and pass appropriations bills, these resolutions allow agencies to spend at the level of the previous year.

Question 10

Reconciliation

Answer 10

A congressional process through which program authorizations are revised to achieve required savings. It usually also includes tax or other revenue adjustments.

Question 11

Authorization bill

Answer 11

An authorization bill establishes or renews a federal program, outlines its parameters, and authorizes a maximum amount of money that Congress may appropriate for it

Question 12

House ways and means committee

Answer 12

The House Ways and Means Committee is the chief tax‑writing committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. It has jurisdiction over all revenue‑raising measures and many major social programs.

Question 13

Senate finance committee

Answer 13

The Senate committee that, along with the House Ways and Means Committee, writes the tax codes, subject to the approval of Congress as a whole.

Question 14

Medicaid

Answer 14

Medicaid is a government program that gives free or low-cost health insurance to people with low income.