By the Numbers

From the May 2012 Rotor and Wing, h/t Andrew Drwiega...


Some numbers mentioned during Sen Jeff Sessions' speech before the Army Aviation Association of America.  


Over the last three years...


- Defense spending has increased 10%.
- Medicare spending has increased 37%.
- Department of Education spending has increased 70%.


Food stamp spending has increased 300% since 2001.  


The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have cost $1.3 trillion over the last ten years.  


The US budget deficit for LAST year was $1.3 trillion.  


In 1962, defense was 48% of the budget, while entitlement spending was 26%.  In 2013, defense will be 19% of the budget and entitlement spending will be 60%.  


The Department of Defense (DoD) budget is $688.3 billion out of a total Defense budget of $903.3 billion ($130 billion for vets, $43.8 billion for foreign economic aid, and $12.5 billion for foreign military aid).  


With continuing budget deficits each year exceeding $1 trillion, completely eliminating the DoD outright would not balance the budget.  


Guns or butter, take your pick.