Changes

*Another way to work with non-appropriated funds is to authorize agencies to borrow funds from the Treasury or from the public. [[Borrowing authority]]<ref>"Borrowing authority", also known as [http://www.gao.gov/assets/130/120223.pdf "authority to spend debt receipts"], pg.46; Report to the House Committee on the Budget by the Comptroller General of the United States. ''Revolving Funds: Full Disclosure Needed For Better Congressional Control''. August 30, 1978. http://www.gao.gov </ref> outside the appropriations process has been authorized since this backdoor was opened in 1932 with creation of the [[Reconstruction Finance Corporation]].

*Another way to work with non-appropriated funds is to authorize agencies to borrow funds from the Treasury or from the public. [[Borrowing authority]]<ref>"Borrowing authority", also known as [http://www.gao.gov/assets/130/120223.pdf "authority to spend debt receipts"], pg.46; Report to the House Committee on the Budget by the Comptroller General of the United States. ''Revolving Funds: Full Disclosure Needed For Better Congressional Control''. August 30, 1978. http://www.gao.gov </ref> outside the appropriations process has been authorized since this backdoor was opened in 1932 with creation of the [[Reconstruction Finance Corporation]].

*The third and most prevalent form of non-appropriated spending is a mandatory entitlement of specified payments to eligible beneficiaries. Most entitlements are open-ended: their cost depends on the varying number of claimants and amounts allowable to each, rather than on current legislative decisions.<ref>See [[Discretionary spending]] The political philosopher and journalist [[George Will]]  contends all government spending is discretionary, with the exception of debt service. [http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2011/02/george_will_on.html Econtalk], George Will, Feb-28-2011.</ref> Most entitlements are also in the form of permanent appropriations that bypass the appropriations committees altogether. Even when the entitlements go through the regular appropriations process (as is the case with public assistance and veterans' benefits) the appropriations committees have no real say over the amounts that are to be spent. <ref>[http://people.brandeis.edu/~woll/schickbudget.pdf The Battle of the Budget], Allen Schick, ''Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science'', Vol. 32, No. 1, Congress against the President, (1975), pp. 51-70. Published by: The Academy of Political. JSTOR.</ref>

*The third and largest form of backdoor is mandatory entitlement of specified payments to eligible beneficiaries. Most entitlements are open-ended: their cost depends on the varying number of claimants and amounts allowable to each, rather than on current legislative decisions.<ref>See [[Discretionary spending]] The political philosopher and journalist [[George Will]]  contends all government spending is discretionary, with the exception of debt service. [http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2011/02/george_will_on.html Econtalk], George Will, Feb-28-2011.</ref> Most entitlements are also in the form of permanent appropriations that bypass the appropriations committees altogether. Even when the entitlements go through the regular appropriations process (as is the case with public assistance and veterans' benefits) the appropriations committees have no real say over the amounts that are to be spent. <ref>[http://people.brandeis.edu/~woll/schickbudget.pdf The Battle of the Budget], Allen Schick, ''Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science'', Vol. 32, No. 1, Congress against the President, (1975), pp. 51-70. Published by: The Academy of Political. JSTOR.</ref>

The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 originally was intended to limit and reform backdoor authority,  by requiring new spending authorities or entitlements to go through the appropriations process.<ref>http://www.gao.gov/assets/210/202440.html</ref><ref>http://appropriations.house.gov/about/</ref> By 2010 however, [[President Obama]]'s Simpson-Bowles Commission reported the that tax code had become riddled with $1.1 trillion (roughly equal to annual projected deficits) in backdoor spending as hidden "[[tax expenditure]]s."<ref>[http://www.fiscalcommission.gov/sites/fiscalcommission.gov/files/documents/TheMomentofTruth12_1_2010.pdf The Moment of Truth: Report of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform]. December 2010. The White House. P. 29, pdf.</ref>

The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 originally was intended to limit and reform backdoor authority,  by requiring new spending authorities or entitlements to go through the appropriations process.<ref>http://www.gao.gov/assets/210/202440.html</ref><ref>http://appropriations.house.gov/about/</ref> By 2010 however, [[President Obama]]'s Simpson-Bowles Commission reported the that tax code had become riddled with $1.1 trillion (roughly equal to annual projected deficits) in backdoor spending as hidden "[[tax expenditure]]s."<ref>[http://www.fiscalcommission.gov/sites/fiscalcommission.gov/files/documents/TheMomentofTruth12_1_2010.pdf The Moment of Truth: Report of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform]. December 2010. The White House. P. 29, pdf.</ref>