Federal Budget

• Do you think the federal government should increase spending on Social Security and Medicare for the elderly? If not, how should the elderly fund retirement and medical costs? Provide research support for your positions.

Funding for Education

• Go to the “Quarterly Summary of State and Local Tax Revenue. Evaluate the disparity of your state’s (Texas) budget allocation for education and property tax to the various localities. Based on your assessment, challenge or defend the equity of the system across the various localities.
• Identify and explain your choices for reductions and increases. Discuss at least two lessons you learned about the challenge of balancing the federal budget.