The Budget As Board Game

In a torrent of budget news, the Wall Street Journal's interactive graphic of the federal budget process is something to make you laugh or cry, as you prefer.

Our first reaction to the eight-stage, 27-box graphic is that it could be the basis of a board game for particularly wonky kids. But at a moment when everyone in Washington is combing through President Obama's $3.8 trillion budget proposal, with its record $1.6 trillion deficit, it's important to remember how long and complicated this process is.

The proposals put forward today have a long way to go before they become real – and the snap reactions you see on the web and Twitter, and hear on the news, may change before this is all over.