What Is the Difference Between Mandatory Spending and Discretionary Spending

question 38

Essay

What is the difference between mandatory spending and discretionary spending? What are some practical examples of each? Which type of spending has the greatest impact on Americans? Should there be cuts in federal spending to reduce the federal deficit? If so, what should be cut and why? If federal spending should not be cut, explain why and then propose an alternative way to reduce the federal deficit.

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Definitions:

Carbon Dioxide

A colorless, odorless gas produced by burning carbon and organic compounds and by respiration, exhaled as a waste product.

Ketone Bodies

Metabolic byproducts produced from the breakdown of fatty acids, used as an energy source when glucose is scarce.

Diabetes Mellitus

Metabolic disease in which carbohydrate use is reduced and that of lipid and protein enhanced; caused by a deficiency of insulin or an inability to respond to insulin and is characterized, in more severe cases, by hyperglycemia, glycosuria, water and electrolyte loss, ketoacidosis, and coma.

Proton Pump

An integral membrane protein that builds up a proton gradient across a biological membrane by actively transporting protons.