Let's start with a quick walk down federal budget memory lane.
It used to be that getting a copy of the president’s budget as soon as possible after it was released was a painful, multi-step, difficult, and time-consuming process.
First, I had to make sure I was on the list to pick up the (depending on the year) five to seven books (2000 or so pages) at the Government Printing Office. Then I had to get myself to GPO early on the day the budget was released, get on line, wait for about an hour in what usually was cold weather, and then buy and haul the budget back to my office. It was expensive – $100 or more. Cabs were often difficult to find near GPO, the books were heavy and cumbersome, and I typically tried to look at a few tables on the way back to the office to get a head start on an already tough day that was going to get tougher.


