More than 50% of US Government Spending Goes to the Military
2010年美國開支的優先次序
2010 US Spending Priorities
by Rady Ananda
Global Research, April 25, 2010
Recently, Live Science published a chart showing that the US spends about one-fifth of its budget on the military. But this aggregate view hides how Congress prioritizes spending, when you consider what is discretionary and voted upon each year. A more salient view of these figures segregates 'discretionary' spending from 'mandatory' spending. During the severe economic downturn of the past two years, how has Congress prioritized spending?
最近，活科學公佈一圖表顯示，美國每年花費其預算的大約五分之一在軍事上。但這總體看法隱藏國會如何優先開支，當你顧及到什麼是酌情權及每年表決。從'強制'開支分離'酌情' 開支，會有一個這些數字更突出的景觀。在過去兩年嚴重的經濟衰退期間，美國國會是如何優先開支？
When it comes to discretionary spending, Congress gives 58% to the military. Here are US budget charts for the years 2009 and 2010, according to the National Priorities Project (NPP):
當談到酌情開支，國會給予 58％到軍費。這裡是美國的預算圖表在2009年和2010年，根據國家優先項目（NPP）：
NPP describes these charts this way, explaining the difference between 'mandatory' and 'discretionary' spending:
"[These charts show] the breakdown of the proposed federal discretionary budget
for fiscal year 2010 [or 2009] by function area.
"The discretionary
budget refers to the part of the federal budget proposed by the President, and
debated and decided by Congress each year. The part of the budget constitutes
more than one-third of total federal spending. The remainder of the federal
budget is called 'mandatory spending.' Fiscal Year 2009 will run from October 1,
2008 to September 30, 2009.
"Note that this chart includes the
war-related spending requested by the administration as supplemental to the
regular budget proposal."
Note, too, per NPP:
"Federal Discretionary and Mandatory Spending
"Congress directly sets
the level of spending on programs which are discretionary. Congress can choose
to increase or decrease spending on any of those programs in a given year….
"About half of the discretionary budget is 'national defense,' a
government-defined function area that roughly corresponds in common parlance as
'military.' However, this category does not include foreign military financing,
security assistance, and other programs commonly thought of as military. Other
types of discretionary spending include the budget for education, many health
programs, and housing assistance.
"Mandatory spending includes programs, mostly entitlement programs, which are
funded by eligibility rules or payment rules. Congress decides to create a
program, for example, Food Stamps. It then determines who is eligible for the
program and any other criteria it may want to lay out. How much is appropriated
for the program each year is then determined by estimations of how many people
will be eligible and apply for Food Stamps.
"Unlike discretionary
spending, the Congress does not decide each year to increase or decrease the
Food Stamp budget; instead, it periodically reviews the eligibility rules and
may change them in order to exclude or include more people.
"Mandatory
spending makes up about two-thirds of the total federal budget. By far the
largest mandatory program is Social Security which makes up one-third of
mandatory spending and continues to grow as the age demographic of the country
shifts towards an older population. [See more at National Priorities Project.]
Also see discussion at How Are Our Federal Tax Dollars Spent? which shows that the military budget is one-fifth (21%) of our total budget:
But, which is the more realistic view of military spending? Which captures how Congress prioritizes spending? Which is more relevant to us?Arguably, discretionary spending is most relevant to ordinary citizens, as we continue to suffer under rising unemployment, increased foreclosures, bankster bailouts, million dollar industry bonuses while the minimum wage remains below poverty, all amid a global financial crisis.
And what does that 58% of discretionary spending amount to? In 2010: $1,027.8 billion, or over a trillion dollars, according to Robert Higgs of the Independent Institute, at Defense Spending Is Much Greater than You Think: more than $1Trillion a year.
Global Research Articles by Rady Ananda
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=18852
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