The economy strengthened in fiscal year 2004, with real gross domestic product (GDP) growing at a faster pace than in the prior fiscal year and employment posting a large increase after declining in each of the previous 3 fiscal years. Rising employment and income contributed to an increase.in fiscal year 2004-the first gain in four years.Outlays, however, rose more than receipts and the Federal budget deficit widened in fiscal year 2004 to $412.3 billion, an increase of $37.5 billion from $374.8 billion in fiscal year 2003. Overall, results in fiscal year 2004 were mixed.- Economic and Budgetary Results, Financial Report Of The United States GovernmentFINANCIAL REPORT OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT is prepared to give the President, Congress, and the American people information about the financial results and position of the Federal Government. The Department of the Treasury's Financial Management Service, which provides centralized payment, collection, and reporting services for the Federal Government and acts as its money manager, issues this report on an annual basis.The Financial Report provides a broad, comprehensive overview of the Federal Government's finances and states the Government's financial position and condition, its revenues and costs, its assets and liabilities as well as other obligations and commitments.A Financial Report is submitted to Congress by March of each year as is required by law and is subject to audit by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The next scheduled Financial Report will be issued in December 2005. For more information about the Department of Treasury, please visit http: //fms.treas.gov.

This book refutes the claim that American foreign policy has varied considerably across time and space, arguing that key policy goals and underlying ideological and political factors have not significantly changed over the last hundred years.

"Think of the federal government as a gigantic insurance company (with a side line business in national defense and homeland security) which only does its accounting on a cash basis-only counting premiums and payouts as they go in and out the door. An insurance company with cash accounting is not an insurance company at all. It is an accident waiting to happen." Peter R. Fisher, former Bush Administration Undersecretary of the Treasury "Our objective in preparing the fiscal year 2005 Financial Report of the U.S. Government is to give Congress and the American people a timely and useful report on the cost of the Federal Government's operations." John W. Snow, former Bush Administration Secretary of the Treasury "Scoring the budget on an accrual basis-the private sector norm and, I believe, a sensible direction for federal budget accounting-would better underscore the tradeoffs we face. Under accrual accounting, benefits would be counted as they are earned by workers rather than when they are paid out by the government." Alan Greenspan, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board "The significance of these accrual-based reports is that they show the implications of current budgetary decisions over a longer time horizon…. This information is therefore an important element of the debate about the real effects of governmental commitments." Paul H. O'Neill, former Bush Administration Secretary of the Treasury "[A] practical management tool for policy-makers and a source of useful information for the public about the assets, liabilities, and operations of the government." Lawrence H. Summers, former Clinton Administration Secretary of the Treasury "We believe that the publication of this financial report is an important step in providing the American public with useful information about their government's assets, liabilities and operations." Robert E. Rubin, former Clinton Administration Secretary of the Treasury In December 2005, the White House published its Financial Report of the United States Government-only 2000 copies were printed despite the purpose of the report being to explain the country's financial wellbeing to Congress and the American people. Now, for the first time, that report is widely published so the American people can see what's really going on with the nation's finances.

Compact, timely, well-researched, and balanced, this institutional history of Social Security's seventy years shows how the past still influences ongoing reform debates, helping the reader both to understand and evaluate the current partisan arguments on both sides.