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Roughly speaking, 25% of spending goes to the military, 25% to SS/Medicare, and the other 50% to everything else. It is important to note that the 25% for SS/M
by coolgeek 8y ago
Roughly speaking, 25% of spending goes to the military, 25% to SS/Medicare, and the other 50% to everything else.
It is important to note that the 25% for SS/MC is funded by a separate tax, targeted to those programs. Without getting sidetracked over budget unification, it is equally important to note that this separate tax has generated a surplus for decades, and has therefore been used to subsidize the rest of the budget.
- tptacek 8y ago27% of federal spending in 2015 was Medicare, 33% was social insurance (social security, SSDI, and unemployment), 15% was military. The United States Federal Government is a heavily armed HR benefits company.
- hundt 8y agoThese numbers seem very high to me! Do you have a source? Here's one sounding the alarm that medicare spending has gone as high as 14% of federal spending and may reach 20% in the next 25 years: https://www.pgpf.org/budget-basics/budget-explainer-medicare https://www.pgpf.org/budget-basics/budget-explainer-medicare Edit: I think maybe you were reading a source describing "health care spending" including not only Medicare but also Medicaid, CHIP, health care for veterans, and possibly other categories of health expenditures. Which doesn't really take away from your point! TIL
- coolgeek 8y agoToo late to edit my comment, but my numbers seem to be wrong, or at least out of date. During the Bush years, military spending was in the 25% (or greater) range. SS/MC was lower (as a percentage of the budget) than today, but it was closer to 33% than 25%. See e.g. https://www.thebalance.com/fy-2007-u-s-federal-budget-and-spending-3306310 https://www.thebalance.com/fy-2007-u-s-federal-budget-and-sp... which has links to other years.