Chart
ETA:
For accuracy, the chart is old (2014) and references discretionary spending instead of mandatory which is where programs like SNAP (Food Stamps) generally fall
However, even accounting for all that properly, at the time of the meme, food stamps would have still been just 2% of the federal budget. Thus the spirit of the meme is still good.
8 replies
Is the chart accurate? Do we have a source?
I ask because I don't see where social security would fit at all, and I suspect that Medicare/Medicaid would be a larger portion than the 5% listed for health.
No. It's outdated, misleading and inaccurate.
Most people don't realize it but in FY2024 the interest payments on our national debt exceeded the entire military budget.
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/breaking-down-the-u-s-governments-2024-fiscal-year/
If you don't like that source then here's the treasury department itself: https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/federal-spending/
Yeah, it's blatantly dishonest for OP's chart to be labeled "Federal Spending" when it doesn't include the majority of federal spending categories. Particularly when the goal is for the reader to point at the largest spending category, despite the chart not including the largest spending categories.
Yes and no, a reverse image search pulled up this answer on stack exchange https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/a/36521
It's old, and only represents discretionary spending vs mandatory (which is where food stamps/SS/Medi* would be) but according to them for food stamps specifically it would still only be about 2% of the federal budget
I believe food stamps are a subset of the US Department of Agriculture spending.
According to the comments of an earlier post of the same picture it is not: https://lemmy.world/post/25845711
Social security and Medicare are considered mandatory spending. The chart above is presumably showing discretionary spending, which is a subset of the overall budget. I can't speak to it's accuracy beyond that.
Oh, man, I was curious about how people would actually act on this community, but it seems I decided to not check on the one week it got from zero attention, to overflowing with bad behavior, and felt down!