Related: http://www.wallstats.com/deathandtaxes/
I always thought this was a pretty good visual representation of budget distribution. Note this reflects the 2010 budget, not the proposed 2011 budget.
I always thought this was a pretty good visual representation of budget distribution. Note this reflects the 2010 budget, not the proposed 2011 budget.
Displaying only discretionary spending is a rather tendentious way of representing the federal budget, because it makes defense spending look like the largest expenditure. Such graphs are usually linked to by people decrying U.S. militarism or imperialism or the military industrial complex. This is not to say that the U.S. does or does not spend too much on the military, but simply to point out that the visual effect of cutting out over 50% of the budget biases people's perceptions and provides undue support for politicized arguments.