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Taxes are payments made by individuals and businesses to support government activities and provide government services (page 645). Excise taxes are taxes on the manufacture, transportation, sale, or consumption of goods and services (page 645). The income tax is a progressive tax. This means that people with higher incomes pay a larger share of their income in tax than do people with lower incomes (page 647).

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Uncontrollables are expenditures required by law or resulting from previous budgetary commitments. Most uncontrollables are direct benefit payments and interest payments on national debt. Entitlements are benefits that Congress must by law provide to individuals. They include Social Security, pensions for retired government employees, Medicare, Medicaid, and veterans' benefits (page 643).

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Every year, the government creates a budget that predicts revenue and controls spending for that year (page 640).

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If the government spends more than it collects, as it has done in most recent years, it runs a budget deficit. To make up the difference, the government borrows money by having the Treasury Department issue securities in the form of bonds, notes, and treasury bills (page 650).