4 ms·

No, the US is currently at 54% military + 6% veteran benefits, while 6% education, 6% medicare + health, 3% science. https://media.nationalpriorities.org/uploa

No, the US is currently at 54% military + 6% veteran benefits, while 6% education, 6% medicare + health, 3% science. https://media.nationalpriorities.org/uploads/discretionary_spending_pie,_2015_enacted.png https://media.nationalpriorities.org/uploads/discretionary_s...

JoeAltmaier 10y ago
No, the :US total spending is just as I listed: http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/us_budget_pie_chart http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/us_budget_pie_chart Showing that abbreviated 'discretionary spending' subset of the budget is uninformative at best; dishonest at worst.
- astazangasta 10y ago
  Uh, why? That's the portion of the budget that Congress actually has control over. Furthermore the mandatory portion (entitlements) are fundamentally different - you pay into the system through payroll taxes and pay out later during retirement. Vastly different from taking money from income taxes and using it to buy guns and planes.
  - dragonwriter 10y ago
    > That's the portion of the budget that Congress actually has control over. Congress has control over the whole budget. Unlike, e.g., the California Legislature and voter-mandated Constitutional spending in the state budget, there are no "mandates" in the "mandatory" part of the federal budget from some authority that transcends Congress, and it is well established that past acts of Congress do not bind future Congresses, or even future acts of the same Congress. > Furthermore the mandatory portion (entitlements) are fundamentally different - you pay into the system through payroll taxes and pay out later during retirement. That's not entirely true. While mandatory spending does include the payroll-tax-funded Social Security and Medicare programs, it also includes programs that are funded from general revenues like Medicaid, SNAP, EITC and the Child tax credit, etc.

JoeAltmaier 10y ago

No, the :US total spending is just as I listed: http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/us_budget_pie_chart http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/us_budget_pie_chart Showing that abbreviated 'discretionary spending' subset of the budget is uninformative at best; dishonest at worst.

astazangasta 10y ago
Uh, why? That's the portion of the budget that Congress actually has control over. Furthermore the mandatory portion (entitlements) are fundamentally different - you pay into the system through payroll taxes and pay out later during retirement. Vastly different from taking money from income taxes and using it to buy guns and planes.
- dragonwriter 10y ago
  > That's the portion of the budget that Congress actually has control over. Congress has control over the whole budget. Unlike, e.g., the California Legislature and voter-mandated Constitutional spending in the state budget, there are no "mandates" in the "mandatory" part of the federal budget from some authority that transcends Congress, and it is well established that past acts of Congress do not bind future Congresses, or even future acts of the same Congress. > Furthermore the mandatory portion (entitlements) are fundamentally different - you pay into the system through payroll taxes and pay out later during retirement. That's not entirely true. While mandatory spending does include the payroll-tax-funded Social Security and Medicare programs, it also includes programs that are funded from general revenues like Medicaid, SNAP, EITC and the Child tax credit, etc.