Chapters 8 & 9

In chapter 8 Rubin talks about Discretion and Abuse of funds. He mentions that the local government is actually watched closer than National and State levels of government. His reasoning behind this theory is because state governments are responsible for local governments and if the local government gets into trouble then its the states duty to bail them out. I find that to be interesting because some of the state governments can't even get their acts together let alone deal with the hassle of taking over a failing local government as well. I think people in general are more interested in their local government than they are in state and federal levels. My reasoning behind this is because they feel too far removed from the processes at state and federal levels. Now this is not to say that people don't care what happens at the state and federal levels but most people feel more comfortable dealing with their local government because it seems less political. For the most part local politicians know their constituents personally.
I personally pay very little attention to the dealing at the state level. I do pay more attention to the federal level because I am a U.S. government employee and budgeting and actions at this level affect me and the job I do directly. I do stay informed of what happens at the local level in my community but I don't get too involved. Do you agree or disagree that most people pay attention to only the local government?

In chapter 9 Rubin explains Real Time Budgeting. I think we started the era of Real Time Budgeting when 9/11 occurred. Obviously this attack was unexpected and we were unprepared to deal with the outcome and ramifications from such a national disaster and war. However Congress stepped in and approved funding for Defense and Security. Today, I see Real Time Budgeting in the US economy downturn. The budget had to be adjusted to deal with the loss of millions of jobs. Congress and the President approved a multi billion dollar stimulus package and have aided millions with unemployment benefit extensions. Another issue that Rubin talks about is secrecy in the budget. He states that many times politicians try to keep people out of the budget process because they simply get in the way. Do you think elected officials should keep us in the dark? My personal feelings are that if you have to go behind closed doors to pass a budget then something is obviously not legitimate about your proposal.