In twenty five years of serving my nation I have realized that the budget process has a built in "fudge factor" for which agencies are rewarded and punished for telling the truth and saving money. In an era when deficits are reaching catastrophic proportions we should overhaul the system by which agencies request funds. Historically when an agency saves money (doesn't expend all funds it has been allocated) their budgets are cut by that number the next year so there is NO incentive to save only to SPEND SPEND SPEND. SO agencies over inflate their requirements in order to MAYBE get enough to cover the 'real' requirements. IF we could build in HONESTY into requirement planning and reward agencies for saving dollars by allocating to them the dollars they request during the next budget cycle versus cutting them it might encourage all agencies to be forthright and honest in submitting budget requirements. A cousin of my husband tells the story of being in the service and spending 'year end' dollars rather than lose them only to realize within a few weeks that an inspection was upcoming. They were ordered to throw brand new equipment and furniture into the trash so that the inspectors wouldn't question why these items had been purchased. WHAT A WASTE!