Budget Matters Blog


New Data: County Unemployment

Our unemployment data is now available at the county level as well as the state level.


The Scoop on the American Jobs Act of 2011

President Obama presented the American Jobs Act of 2011 on September 8th and sent it to Congress on September 12th. Want to know what it's all about? Here’s the rundown. How does it help… the unemployed? It makes it illegal for employers to discriminate against unemployed job applicants because of ...

A Decade After 9/11: The Dollars and Sense of War

10 numbers you need to know: $1.26 Trillion – Total amount appropriated by Congress for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through the end of Fiscal Year 2011 (September 30, 2011) – $797.3 billion for Iraq and $459.8 billion for Afghanistan. $7.6 Trillion – The total amount spent on “security” ...

New Data: Adult Education

We've added a new expenditure. Adult Education: grants to states that fund local programs of adult education and literacy services.


As the Expenditures Turn

Where we get federal expenditure data, why we don't show all 10 million rows of it, and an API sneak peek.


Mapping Essential State and County Data About Federal Spending and Social Well-being

National Priorities Project announces the launch of its Federal Priorities Database, a tool which compares the way our nation spends money with the social impact of these expenditures. The database tracks both federal spending and social indicators (e.g., poverty rates, renewable energy usage and enrollment in the State Children's Health ...

Federal Priorities Database: Underemployment (U-6)

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes several alternate meausures of labor underutilization that are more inclusive than the standard unemployment rate.


Data Story: School Lunches

Now that schools everywhere are back in full swing, we’ve posted a new featured data story on our Federal Priorities Database. This one looks at two datasets: school lunch participation and school lunch expenditures. Over the years, the number of students eating school lunch has increased, reaching 31,724,421 for the school year ending in 2010. These lunches were subsidized by the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). Federal assistance for this program, which totaled $9.8 billion In FY 2009, comes in the form of cash reimbursements and “entitlement foods” from the USDA.


New Data: Underemployment

There's a new indicator in the Federal Priorities Database. Underemployment: Percent of the civilian labor force unemployed, marginally attached (available but not currently looking for work), or involuntarily working part-time.


Debt-Ceiling Debacle Mach 2: The Super Committee

Do you remember (as unpleasant as it may be) the debt-ceiling fiasco that happened a little more than a month ago?  Well in case you need a refresher, the end result called for an immediate $917 billion in spending cuts over the next 10 years. The rest of the proverbial ...