How Congress Spends Your Money

[KG4JYD]

http://www.federalbudget.com/chart.gif

[n2ize]

Looks prettygood to me.Except that defence could probably be knocked down a few notches in favor of better social services,etc.

[KD6NIG]

How they spend our money?

Once you hand it to them (as you're required to do) it becomes their money.

If it was really our money they might actually listen to us a little bit as to how to spend it :)

[KB9BVN]

Looks prettygood to me.Except that defence could probably be knocked down a few notches in favor of better social services,etc.

Just curious, where do you think we should make cuts in defense? The troops could use a pay raise, in my opinion.

[N3RQ]

Just curious, where do you think we should make cuts in defense? The troops could use a pay raise, in my opinion.

Defense contracting! The current defense budget dwarfs that of the Reagan administration, and most of it is going to defense contractors. We are spending $300M per pop on F-22 jet fighters that were designed to fight the cold war. Defense contractors that earned $65K per year before G.W. took office are now earning $125K+ for warming a seat. How many workers in other sectors have seen that large of a jump in pay?

[al2i]

National defense is a normal function of government. Undeclared wars on the other side of the planet are not.

[n0ov]

Many of those high dollar programs are finally upgrading weapons systems that have been in place since the 80's and are in need for an upgrade. And unfortunately things cost one heck of a lot more in 2008 than they did in 1998.......................... remember when the B2 Bomber program came out, the birds were quite expensive to begin with -- when they cut the numbers of aircraft to be ordered the R&D costs per aircraft jumped the price to over a Billion dollars per copy. Dollar wise, pound foolish..................

Actually I was surprised to see how much money goes for Health and Human Services --- sure would be interesting to see what rolls up into this category.

[N3RQ]

Many of those high dollar programs are finally upgrading weapons systems that have been in place since the 80's and are in need for an upgrade. And unfortunately things cost one heck of a lot more in 2008 than they did in 1998..........................



The defense budget is bloated with pork.


Actually I was surprised to see how much money goes for Health and Human Services --- sure would be interesting to see what rolls up into this category.

HHS Agencies

* Administration for Children and Families (ACF)
* Administration on Aging (AoA)
* Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
* Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)
* Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
* Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
* Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
* Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
* Indian Health Service (IHS)
* National Institutes of Health (NIH)
* Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

[KB1PRQ]

Defense contracting!

Amen, and it even goes down to the lowest levels. Before I got out of the army I worked in a shop fixing sincgars radios and stuff like that. The bloat in just that field was ridiculous...$1k for wiring harnesses that I could build with 5 bucks and a trip to radio shack, using non-standard screws/bolts so if you needed to replace they had to be ordered at like 10x the normal cost and just paying 3-4x normal market value for power supplies, test equipment etc.

[KG4JYD]

Looks prettygood to me.Except that defence could probably be knocked down a few notches in favor of better social services,etc.

How about we lower the war spending and the social spending?

Isn't the object to get people OFF the government tit and on their own? Why do we want to spend MORE on social services?

[n2ize]

How about we lower the war spending and the social spending?

Isn't the object to get people OFF the government tit and on their own? Why do we want to spend MORE on social services?

What do you consider "social services" ? Much of what I consider social services is what essentially makes the middle class in this country functional and keeps it alive.

[KD7ZRT]

I prefer this site (http://www.thebudgetgraph.com/) since it breaks things down into smaller categories. It really puts things in perspective--$800M for example seemed like quite a lot for Amtrak, until compared to $12B for the FAA, which itself seems small compared to $37B for the Federal Highway Administration.

[N3ATS]

Why do we want to spend MORE on social services?

WE don't, the Obamatards do.

[KG4JYD]

Much of what I consider social services is what essentially makes the middle class in this country functional and keeps it alive.Such as......?

[KG4JYD]

$800M for example seemed like quite a lot for Amtrak, until compared to $12B for the FAA, which itself seems small compared to $37B for the Federal Highway Administration.And all are unconstitutional! :mad:

[ad5mb]

The defense budget is bloated with pork.

I work for one of these Defense Contractors.

We are driving around in 1991 trucks we inherited from the customer. AM radios, no working AC in New Mexico, fenders flapping in the breeze waving goodbye to the balding tires...

Nobody making 125 K, or even half that.

DOD does waste a great deal of money, but those who work for civilian contractors aren't getting it.

[KB9BVN]

Spending 165K per year per member of congress is a HUGE waste of funds.

The ROI on that investment is nil.