Preliminary+Research

**What I know about my topic:** Our government is spending outrageous amounts of money on unnecessary projects such as Solyndra that rarely pan out, putting us in tremendous debt.

 **What I need to find out about my topic:**  All of the specific information necessary to make a qualified solution to the problem.  **Search terms I can use to find information about my topic:**

Government spending Government debt Debt ceiling Obama-care Federal Deficit Federal Debt Solyndra Government projects Republican solutions for government spending Democratic solutions for government spending Republican solutions for debt crisis <span style="color: #da4df5; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: center;">Democratic solutions for debt crisis <span style="color: #da4df5; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: center;">Legal process for approving a spending bill <span style="color: #da4df5; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: center;">President Obama's views on government spending

<span style="color: #da4df5; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: center;">**Information I found today (at least 5 points):** <span style="color: #da4df5; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: center;"> **-** Deficit is when you spend more money than your income, while debt is the amount of money you owe. <span style="color: #da4df5; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: center;"> **-**Approximately 3.8 trillion dollars was spent so far in 2011. <span style="color: #da4df5; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: center;"> **-**Government spending is decided through appropriation bills passed through the senate and signed by the president. <span style="color: #da4df5; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: center;"> **-**20% of spending was for defense, 20% for social security, 21% for healthcare, 14% for safety net programs, 6% for interest on debt, 7% on veterans and federal retirees, 2% on scientific and medical research, 3% on transportation and infrastructure, 3% on education, 1% on non-security international, and 2% on miscellaneous items. <span style="color: #da4df5; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: center;"> **-**As of the 24th of October, the government owes $14,955,356,831,547.85. <span style="color: #da4df5; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: center;"> **-**Even though the government spends much money in an effort to help the poor, much of that money actually goes to people who are well off.