Teaching the Federal Budget in 48 Steps

Eleven modules, 48 narrated steps, one data spine: the training program that ties the whole portfolio together — what each module teaches, how every number is frozen and self-tested, and how to work through it.

September 12, 2026 · 3 min · 592 words · Joanna Broderick

Did CBO's Baseline Age Well?

Three published vintages of CBO’s 10-Year Budget Projections checked against the actuals CBO later reported: receipts +$197bn above baseline, the deficit $162bn smaller — if you know which rows are forecasts and which are restatements.

September 12, 2026 · 3 min · 476 words · Joanna Broderick

What a Sequester, a CR, and a Lapse Do to the Money

The flow simulator follows a real appropriation — budget authority to obligations to outlays, month by month — and lets you pull the levers. Real data, frozen, with a scenario engine that applies each lever in a fixed, documented order.

September 12, 2026 · 3 min · 550 words · Joanna Broderick

Putting the Federal Budget in a Database

USAspending, Treasury, and FRED — no API keys, one SQLite file, 46,042 rows, and an audit trail for every call. The spine the rest of my portfolio runs on, and the three things the public data got wrong along the way.

September 12, 2026 · 4 min · 693 words · Joanna Broderick