English: Understanding deficit terminology and link to change in debt

• Reported budget deficit data is from: http://www.cbo.gov/budget/data/historical.pdf
• Reported debt change data is calculated from: http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/histdebt/histdebt_histo5.htm
• On-budget vs. off-budget data is from: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2009/pdf/spec.pdf ; see page 370 (Table 23-1).

This chart illustrates how the "total" deficit amount often reported to the media relates to the change in debt during the year.

• "Off-budget" amounts: There are certain categories of receipts and disbursements which are included in the budget process, but are (counter-intuitively) called "off-budget." The primary item is Social Security. During 2007, the "Off-budget" surplus was $182 billion, which lowered the "On-budget" deficit of $344 billion to the "Total Deficit" of $162 billion. This total deficit figure is the amount often reported in the press.
• Supplemental appropriations: These amounts are authorized for payment via legislation outside the annual budget process. Examples are the costs of the Iraq & Afghanistan Wars (about $750 billion total since 2001), the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 (about $170 billion), and earmarks (about $50 billion per year).

Since the debt went up about $500 billion during 2007, that means $156 billion (500-344=156) were non-budgeted expenses or outside the annual budget process.

See United States federal budget for citations and more information.