In as much as we are always complaining of the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of the federal government as far as spending is concerned, it is true that the federal government operates under a very tight budget. Its revenue is normally way below its resource requirements and thus the terms deficit and debt are common with the federal government. Some of the sources of federal revenue are payroll taxes, individual income taxes, estate and gift taxes, excise taxes, miscellaneous receipts, and customs duties. Payroll taxes refer to the taxes that are deducted from the salaries of employees. Individual income tax includes corporate tax and tax on individuals and businesses. Gift tax is the type of tax levied on individuals or businesses when they give gifts to other individuals or businesses in the course of their lives (Williams, 2009, p. 1). On the other hand estate tax is the type of tax that is levied during the transfer of a deceased person’s property. Excise taxes are the taxes levied on the distribution or manufacture of goods considered unnecessary by the federal government. Miscellaneous receipts include fees charges and other earnings that the federal government makes. Customs duties refer to the kind of tax that is levied mainly on imports. This kind of tax is, however, levied on exports. The main source of federal revenue is individual income taxes. This is due to the large number of companies, businesses and taxable individuals in the United States.
Federal spending
The U.S. has been historically famous for developing spending policies to help in stabilizing its economy. Some of the things that the federal government spends its revenue on include the military, development of human resources, general government operations and administration and physical resources. Currently, development of human resources is taking more of taxpayer’s money than any other item with military/defense spending closing in. In the former item, the federal government spends money on things like Medicare, social security and Medicaid among others. The spending is aimed at capacity development of U.S. citizens so that they can contribute in nation building.
Issues in federal spending
The main contemporary issues facing federal spending are federal deficits and federal debt. The Obama administration has engaged itself in habitual deficit spending which has worked well to see the United States further into debt. Annual budgets are always surpassing estimated annual revenue and thus the government ends up spending more than it can earn. This has led to the aforementioned increase in the level of federal debt. Currently, federal debt stands at a figure higher than 8 trillion USD which is almost the same as the GDP in the year 2004, 12 trillion USD.
Development of a policy statement regarding the environment is an essential component of the efforts to conserve the environment. Its value is specifically in the benchmarking of the expectations and environmental performance. The performance may be by groups of individuals or persons and it is carried out in accordance with the stipulations and expectations of the policy (Jackson, 2010, p. 1).
The present day environmental policy for a number of entities includes the minimization of the levels of wastes and greenhouse gases that are released to the atmosphere. Organizations and governments have also appreciated the role that partnerships play in development of environmental policy. To this effect, most organizations and governments partner with NGOs that specialize in environmental conservation. This is a very important step since it enables organizations and governments to develop environmental policies that are bound to have positive effects on the environment. It also ensures sustainability of projects that are carried out in a bid to make organizations and governments realize the goals of the policy.
Environmental policies have greatly benefited from the ideas of Corporate Social Responsibility that have been implemented by numerous organizations in a bid to gain goodwill in their markets. Historically, organizations were mainly observing environment legislations and by-laws and the ideas of corporate social responsibility were not so common. However, this kind of policy of giving contributions to the environment as required by the law did not fare too well and something had to be done to reverse the trend. Governments and regulatory bodies started being keener on the emissions that corporations were releasing to the environment and with time, it has become a norm for companies to develop environment policies that keep them focused as far as conservation of the environment is concerned (Wijen, 2005, p. 49). This is especially the case with companies that are involved in the manufacture of goods. Such corporations develop policies that guide them in ensuring that effluents that are normally products of manufacturing are properly disposed so that they do not negatively affect the environment.
Also among the main aspects of environment policy is the energy policy. Energy generation has been among the greatest contributors to the problem of environmental pollution. This is especially the case in situations where energy is generated by burning of fossil fuels. Most fossil fuels produce carbon dioxide which is a greenhouse gas and thus polluting the environment. The fossil fuels also deprive the environment some of its resources and thus the environment is negatively exploited. The energy policy has thus been avoiding as much as possible the use of fossil fuels in energy generation in order to conserve the environment. However, some organizations and individuals depend on fossil fuels for a living and thus it is impossible to completely eradicate the reliance of fossil fuels for energy. Other sources of energy live gasoline are also contributors to environmental pollution and thus any environmental policy should address the environmental problems caused by such energy sources. In a nutshell, energy and the environment are intertwined and efforts to make one of them better must affect the other.
Free market self-regulation of environmental policy
The United States has been infamously known for the beauty of backyards and homes and an awful state of parks and streets that are managed by the government. This is a perfect example of the indubitable relevance of adopting a free market self-regulation of environment policy. A lot of hullaballoo has been sounded with several suggestions on how best the environment, especially the environment in public places can be managed. Some people have even suggested increase of taxes in order to get financial capability to manage the public environment like privately owned backyards. Others have suggested strict rules for ensuring that the environment is protected.
A good approach to solving the problems that public environment faces is conducting an elaborate investigations into the factors that make privately owned backyards more beautiful than public places and making efforts to make the care of the environment private so that somebody is always there to protect every environment from exploitation. This is the definition of a free market self-regulatory policy for the environment since people are free to choose which environment to conserve and thus they will be more responsible in their role as the custodians of the specific environment. It also works well because there is nothing much to strategize and agree on since the care for the environment is a private affair (Smith, 2004, p. 1). There are also few consultations in cases where a prompt action in taking care of the environment is needed. Being the custodians of the specific environment they choose to conserve, people become very protective of this environment and it is highly unlikely that anyone will ever exploit the environment negatively in their watch. However, a free market self-regulation policy for the environment also has its down side.
One of the main disadvantages of this policy is the fact that some places will be left out without a custodian and thus the government will still have to take care of them. The government can do this by diverting resources towards the preservation of such places and developing legislations that favor the conservation of such environments. Another disadvantage of this policy is the fact that after being the custodian of a certain environment, an individual or organization may feel that they have the right to do whatever they like with the particular environment. This may lead to degradation of the environment by the very people who should be taking care of it. In a nutshell, although a free market self-regulation policy for the environment is good, it should be complemented with the involvement of the government in preservation for it to have the best results.
Reference List
Jackson, L. (2010). Energy & Environment. Web.
Smith, F. (2004). A Free-Market Environmental Vision. Web.
Wijen, F. (2005). A handbook of globalization and environmental policy. California. Barnes & Noble.
Williams, R. (2009). The Numbers: What are the federal government’s sources of revenue? Web.