BudCast

Budget Analyst -- Federal Agency Money Matters

BudCast

BudCast™	What the BudCast™ is all about.
	What the colors mean.
	What the score means.

The BudCast in not available at this time.

The Analyst's Forecast

The Analyst's Forecast is summarized by the picture and the color. The score is for appropriations.

What is this all about?

The BudCast™ (budget forecast) is a summary judgment of agency prospects in the appropriations process for the upcoming fiscal year. It is analogous to a weather forecast. The BudCast™ is not based on as much science as weather forecasts. The specific measures used to reach the judgment are under constant development.

At this time, the BudCast™ is being applied to a composite of the whole Federal establishment. It will be expanded to specific agencies in the future.

Agencies which already have their appropriations acts would have a sunnier forecast than those that do not.

Colors

Symbol	Color	Meaning
	Red	Danger. Problems coming up. Major cuts from request by at least one committee. Shutdown possible in the near future.
	Purple	No imminent danger, but things may turn towards the red BudCast™ in the near future. Congress expresses doubts about agency's request or performance.
	Blue	Things seem to be normal. Parts of request on way to being approved by Congress. No imminent danger.
	Light blue	No imminent danger. Clearing strongly/clouds moving in. Things are looking up/down. Funding for major initiatives approved.
	Yellow	Sunshine and good feelings. Request granted in its major aspects. No dangers ahead.

Score

The score is developed as follows:
	Enactment of each appropriation is worth 1/13th, or 7.69 points. (There are 13 appropriations, and each is weighed equally.)
	A vetoed bill is a negative equivalent of an appropriation, or -7.69 points.
	A continuing resolution is worth half an appropriation, or 3.85 points.
	A lapse in appropriations is a negative 8 points for each lapsed appropriation. (In this case, there is no appropriation at all, including a CR, for the agencies covered by the specific appropriation. For a complete shutdown of the government, this would yield a negative score.)
	The points are added for the score, which is rounded.

Copyright © 1998-2007 by Laszlo Bockh and Mary Blakeslee. All rights reserved. Last revised: 11/24/07 01:51 PM. All trademarks or product names mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners. The logo and BudCast™ images used herein were obtained from IMSI's MasterClips/MasterPhotos© Collection, 1895 Francisco Blvd. East, San Rafael, CA 94901-5506, USA