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US Budget
Non Discretionary Spending
23.8% HealthCare
General Senior Population, 13%
Poor, 7.8%
Veterans, 3%
22.2% Pensions
Social Security, 19% - If Congress had not borrowed the funds from SS, then it would be pulled from the SS Funds and not the Federal Budget.
Federal Civilian and Military Retirees, 3.2%
11.3% Other Non Discretionary Spending
Unemployment, 2.8%
Food Stamps and Nutrition Programs, 2.7%
Housing Subsidies for the poor, 1.7%
Cash payments to the disabled poor, 1.3%
Low Income tax Credit, 1.2%
Cash Welfare for Poor Mothers with Children, 0.8%
College - Tuition Aid, 0.5%
Crop Subsidies, 0.3%
57.3 % Total Non Discretionary Spending - can't freeze or trim this part of the budget without changes in law or benefit programs. This is a direct payment to individuals.
Discretionary Spending
19.6% Military Operations and Hardware - cuts in military spending programs will reduce manufacturing jobs in most of the 50 states, thus adding to unemployment.
16% Other Discretionary Spending - includes transportation, education, alternative-energy, public health, medical research, foreign aid, diplomacy, trade promotion, homeland security, law enforcement aid to state and local government, disaster relief, environmental protection, national parks, basic science research, space exploration, the arts, and other smaller programs. Many of these are well under 1% of the budget. Which one is your pet issue to keep and which are the ones to trim back on?
35.6% Total Discretionary Spending - this is what Congress deals with in the budget every year. It includes all the pork barrel programs that your congressman gets for your district, like the "Bridge to nowhere in Alaska".
Interest on the Federal Deficit
7.1% Interest on the Federal Deficit - this number is going to climb as the Feds increase the lending rates from near 0%. This will explode in the next few years. It could consume 30% of the budget, if we are lucky. We could be approaching a situation like Greece is facing, except Greece has the larger countries in the EU to help soften the impact. There will be no one to soften the impact when we run out of money.
In summary the total budget is $3.8 Trillion and growing. A 1% share of this budget is only a measly $38 Billion.
.... Knight Kiplinger, Kiplinger's Personal Finance, April 2010.
None of this has factored in the latest HealthCare proposals. My suggestion would be to cut every program to 75% including Non Discretionary spending. Then have Congress decide what the want to adjust from that point forward. 25% reduction on $38 Trillion is $2.8 Trillion or $2,800 Billion. That's a lot of change.