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In Other News... CEPS meme thread v 2020 - new year, new memes

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That's exactly what is idiotic with polling. Initially everyone had creepy Joe in the lead by a wide margin.

Maybe the fact that early polls showed him in the lead encouraged others to get out and actually vote, but I doubt it changed many minds.
 
TheLoveBandit said:
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I know this is the meme thread, but his plan is actually pretty sound, it just calls for making significant but modest cuts (ie, like 20% maybe, I forget the exact percentage) to defense spending and raising corporate taxes by some (which is how they were before the last couple of years). The defense budget eats up the VAST, vast majority of government spending, FAR more than all social safety net spending put together.
 
The following is fact, not meme fun. I wanted to know the real truth, and how bad defense spending is, so I looked.
Maybe this breaks into a separate thread discussion on budgets (is there one already?) and spending, and proposals by candidates, and the reality to support them.


Xorkoth said:
The defense budget eats up the VAST, vast majority of government spending, FAR more than all social safety net spending put together.
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US Federal Budget Breakdown
The Budget Components and Impact on the US Economy

Last updated 13FEB2020

On Feb. 5, 2020, President Donald Trump released his budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2021. Under his proposal, the federal budget would be a record $4.829 trillion. The U.S. government estimates it will receive $3.863 trillion in revenue. That creates a $966 billion deficit for October 1, 2020, through September 30, 2021.

Government spending is broken down into three categories: mandatory spending, budgeted at $2.966 trillion; discretionary spending, forecasted to be $1.485 trillion; and interest on the national debt, estimated to be $378 billion. Each category of spending has different subcategories that require funding.

Revenue
The federal government estimated that it would receive $3.863 trillion in revenue in FY 2021. Most of the revenue is in the form of taxes, paid by taxpayers, either through income or payroll taxes. The estimate for each type of revenue is as follows:
  • Income taxes contribute $1.932 trillion or 50% of total receipts
  • Social Security, Medicare, and other payroll taxes add $1.373 trillion or 36%
  • Corporate taxes supply $284 billion or 7%
  • Excise taxes and tariffs contribute $141 billion or 4%
  • Earnings from the Federal Reserve's holdings add $71 billion or 2%. Those are interest payments on the U.S. Treasury debt the Fed acquired through quantitative easing.
  • Estate taxes and other miscellaneous revenue supply the remaining 1%
It's estimated that each taxpayer works until late April each year to pay for all federal revenue collected. This day is known as Tax Freedom Day, in which taxpayers finally work for themselves after having worked for four months to pay taxes.



Spending
The government expects to spend $4.829 trillion in 2021. Almost 60% of that pays for mandated benefits such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
Discretionary spending will be $1.485 trillion. It pays for everything else. The U.S. Congress appropriates this amount each year, using the president's budget as a starting point.
Interest on the U.S. debt is estimated to be $378 billion. Interest on the approximate $23 trillion debt is the fastest-growing federal expense, expected to double by 2028.
The U.S. Treasury must pay the interest to avoid a U.S. debt default. A debt default by the U.S. has unknown consequences since it has never happened before.



Mandatory Spending
Mandatory spending is estimated at $2.966 trillion in FY 2021. This category includes entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment compensation. It also includes welfare programs such as Medicaid.
Social Security will be the biggest expense, budgeted at $1.151 trillion. It's followed by Medicare at $722 billion and Medicaid at $448 billion.
Social Security costs are currently 100% covered by payroll taxes and interest on investments. Until 2010, there was more coming into the Social Security Trust Fund than being paid out. Thanks to its investments, the Trust Fund is still running a surplus.
The Trust Fund’s Board estimates that this surplus will be depleted by 2032. Social Security revenue, from payroll taxes and interest earned, will cover only 77% of the benefits promised to retirees.
Medicare is already underfunded because taxes withheld for the program don't pay for all benefits. Congress must use tax dollars to pay for a portion of it. Medicaid is 100% funded by the general fund, also known as "America's Checkbook." This account is used to finance daily activities and long-term operations of the government.



Discretionary Spending
The discretionary budget for 2021 is $1.485 trillion. More than half goes toward military spending, including Homeland Security, the Department of Veterans Affairs and other defense-related departments. The rest must pay for all other domestic programs. The largest of these programs are Health and Human Services, Education, and Housing and Urban Development.
There is also the Overseas Contingency Operations fund that paysfor wars or continuing military actions. A growing portion of the discretionary budget is set aside for disaster relief such as hurricane and wildfire relief.



Military Spending
Military spending was included in the budget, under discretionary spending. The biggest expense for the military was the Department of Defense base budget, estimated at $636 billion.
Overseas Contingency Operations are estimated to cost approximately $69 billion. It pays for the war on terror costs triggered by the 9/11 attacks. These include ongoing costs from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Military spending includes $228 billion for defense-related departments. These include Homeland Security, the State Department, and Veterans Affairs.
All these military costs combined equal $705 billion.



The Deficit
The budget deficit is estimated at $966 billion. That's the difference between $3.863 trillion in revenue and $4.829 trillion in spending. This shortfall is added to the existing national debt.
Each president and their administration is credited (or blamed) with increases in national debt due to the budgets their administration proposes. The approval of the budget is delegated to Congress. In other words, it's not the president alone who bears the burden of deficit creation and national debt generation—other elected officials do so as well.
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There is more below that in the article, but in a nutshell, 2021 calls for:
  • $4.829 Trillion budget
  • 60% of that is mandated (social net ~$2.966 Trillion)
  • $705 Billion for all military spending (~14.6% of total budget)


I've been guilty, frequently, in this forum for throwing a comment out without checking my facts. And, as such, I'm usually called out on it. I don't mind. In fact, I appreciate being set straight so I don't perpetuate myths or mistatements. Looks like the 'defense spending is the biggest thing in the budget' can be put to bed now as well.




EDIT: Article states $705B for ALL military, and just above that it says military is more than half of $1.485T discretionary. Something's not right there, though what's a $50B plus or minus among friends? Still pales to the $2.966T mandatory spending (social security, medicare, medicaid).
 
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There have been too much disgusting shit shared in the last weeks, unfortunately my laptop was broken and I couldn't keep up with balancing it out. But now it's repaired again, so time for some leftist memes, right?


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