These numbers are for FY 2010. (Source: Internet)
Federal expenditures: $3.5 trillion (24% of GDP)
Federal revenues: $2.2 trillion (15% of GDP)
Budget deficit: $1.3 trillion (9% of GDP)
So how does Uncle Sam spend all that cash money, you ask. About 80% of the budget comes from five categories:
• Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP: $732 billion (21% of the budget). $452 billion went to Medicare, which provides coverage to 47 million people age 65+ or with disabilities (15% of the population). $280 billion funds Medicaid and CHIP, which provide health care or long-term care to 60 million low-income children, parents, elderly people, and people with disabilities (19.3% of the population). Medicaid and CHIP require matching payments from the states.
• Defense and security: $705 billion (20% of the budget). This includes the cost of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, which totaled $170 billion in 2010.
• Social Security: $707 billion (20% of the budget). As of March 2011, 59.8 million people receive Social Security benefits of some sort. That’s 19.2% of the population.
• Safety net programs: $496 billion (14% of the budget). These programs include: the refundable portion of the earned-income and child tax credits, which assist low- and moderate-income working families through the tax code; programs that provide cash payments to eligible individuals or households, including Supplemental Security Income for the elderly or disabled poor and unemployment insurance; various forms of in-kind assistance for low-income families and individuals, including food stamps, school meals, low-income housing assistance, child-care assistance, and assistance in meeting home energy bills; and various other programs such as those that aid abused and neglected children.
• Interest on the national debt: $196 billion (6 percent of the budget). As of March 25, 2011, the total federal debt was $14.26 trillion. That’s 97.3% of calendar year 2010’s GDP of $14.66 trillion.
And here it is all USA Today style:
