Contact: Michael Hamill Remaley, Public Agenda Communications, 212-686-6610 x13, mremaley@publicagenda.org

NEW YORK, April 8 /Standard Newswire/ -- As millions of Americans make out their checks to the IRS, many of them wonder exactly where their money goes and how well Congress and the Administration are managing it. Not nearly as well as many of us would like to think, according to a new book that couldn't be timelier: "Where Does the Money Go? Your Guided Tour to the Federal Budget Crisis."

Published by HarperCollins, "Where Does the Money Go?" is written by nonpartisan Public Agenda authors Jean Johnson and Scott Bittle. Since it debuted in mid-February 2008, it has been on top of the Amazon.com list of top public policy books with its engaging, non-policy-wonk treatment of a serious issue that will undermine the American standard of living if left unaddressed.

According to Johnson and Bittle, many Americans don't know what the biggest components of the budget are and are confused about why the country's budget is perpetually in the red - 31 out of the last 35 years. Very few Americans grasp the daunting problems the country will soon face if we don't begin to manage our financial resources better.

The New York Times said, "If you are going to buy just one book in this presidential election year, you might want to consider 'Where Does the Money Go?' This is a book that manages to be entertaining and irreverent while serving as an informative primer on a subject that is crucial to the future of all Americans."

Barron's said, "For a more complete understanding of the depths to which federal finance has sunk, consult 'Where Does the Money Go?'... The authors define the nation's fiscal problems clearly. They cover the short-term imbalances between a complex tax system and a quixotic set of federal programs. They also explain the longer-term impossibility of paying all promised benefits to the baby boomers. And they put the blame where it belongs -- on us all. They ask their readers: 'When was the last time you cast your vote for a candidate who campaigned on getting the country's finances back on the right track?'"

The authors are available for comment on government spending, deficits and the national debt, Social Security and Medicare, and other budget matters in down-to-earth terms suited to general audiences.

"Where Does the Money Go?" is already generating buzz, with the authors featured as special guest bloggers on The Huffington Post and The Wall Street Journal Online and appearing on popular programs such as Fresh Air with Terry Gross on National Public Radio, Bill Moyers' Journal, WNYC's The Leonard Lopate Show and dozens of others. Updates about speaking appearances, book ordering and other information about the book are available at: http://publicagenda.org/wheredoesthemoneygo/