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Where is agency XYZ?
While the poster contains over 500 items, it is not inclusive of every government agency. The main reasons why an agency or department was not depicted are because its budget was under $200 million, it's funding was paid for by offsetting receipts resulting in a small or nil budget authority, it was non-discretionary, or there simply was not enough room on the poster.
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Why do you focus on the discretionary budget?
The discretionary budget funds all cabinet level departments and what is referred to most often when people think of the 'federal government.' It is the single largest part of the budget at one trillion dollars or roughly one third of pot. It is also the portion of the budget that Congress can easily push numbers around year to year which makes it a great tool for tracking our real national priorities. The total budget is depicted (not to scale) in the bottom right corner of the Death and Taxes poster.
Entitlement spending is also not included in detail for practical reasons. Social Security and Medicare cannot be broken down into small programs as other governmental departments can. The bulk of the funds are small payments to millions of people which cannot be graphed in the same manner as the rest of the poster. If entitlement spending were included to scale with the discretionary budget the overall detail of the poster would have to be decreased dramatically if the 24"x36" size were to me maintained. -
What do you consider military or national security spending?
While many people think the military is confined to the Department of Defense, that is not the case. The government labels national defense funding as 050. This includes subfunction 051 for the Department of Defense, subfunction 053 for defense activities within the Department of Energy, and subfunction 054 for defense activities in a variety of other governmental departments.
The total for function 050 is $611.131 Billion of which the Department of Defense accounts for 84%.
In addition to that is $8.627 Billion for security funding in the Department of State. Such items include Foreign Military Financing, the Economic Support Fund, and other international security, peacekeeping and counterdrug operations.
The Department of Homeland Security contributes another $14.858 Billion to secure and protect our national borders.
The administration does not consider funding the Department of Veterans Affairs to be military related spending. I disagree. Funding for our veterans is directly proportional to the size of our military and increases during war time when the wounded need to be cared when they return home. I make no distinction between the funding of current and past troops. This adds another $44.764 Billion to the total.
Funding for the Global War on Terror is very confusing and hard to measure. The administration has $70 Billion as it's estimate for a supplemental GWOT appropriation. This figure is a placeholder pending further enactment of the FY 2008 request of which Congress only partially approved. The $70 Billion represents the absolute bare minimum the Department of Defense would need to bring everyone and everything home on the first day of the fiscal year. Obviously that won't happen and experts have pegged the 2009 GWOT spending in the $180-$200 Billion range. I use the $189.316 figure because it is from the FY 2008 spending requests and remains the most accurate information to date on GWOT spending.
So subtract the erroneous $70 Billion figure from function 050 and add a more accurate $189 Billion and you have close to $800 Billion for military and national security. A full and detailed explanation of all national security funding can be found here. -
How come some numbers differ from last years poster?
The poster is of the President's February budget request. While the President may terminate a program, Congress may continue funding for it, and unless the President veto's the congressional resolution, funding will continue for the 2008 terminated program. This doesn't stop the President from trying to terminate it again the following year.
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Why is the TSA not listed as national security related?
The Transportation Security Administration was originally part of the Department of Transportation but moved when the Department of Homeland Security was created. The TSA is a collection of low level security guards that used to be privately contracted by the airline or airport, and are now part of the federal government. Although increasingly airport security is contracted out again to private companies under the TSA's Screening Partnership Program. The two main goals of the TSA are airport security the prevention of aircraft hijacking and while these are important, they offer little in terms of national security. The TSA operates more like police for airports than any real counter terrorism program.
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How come some circles are bigger than their parent circles?
This is because the funding for the large circles is not part of the discretionary budget or funded through loans and fees. Such is the case with the Small Business Administration which is a small department of $.468 billion managing a large amount of loans which are repaid.
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Is the data accurate?
Yes. The figures used to create the graph come directly from the President's official budget request and the comptroller of the Department of Defense. The Intelligence budget figures are estimates from globalsecurity.org.
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How big is the poster?
The poster is 24''x36''. It is printed on high quality 100# semi gloss cover stock with an aqueous coating for protection. It is about as think as card stock. It will fit in all standard 24''x36'' sized frames.
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How is the poster shipped?
The poster is shipped from two locations. It is shipped via UPS from the mid-west and via USPS from the east coast. Shipping generally takes 2-4 business days depending on your location. The posters are shipping in sturdy tubes for protection..
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Do you ship international?
Yes ofcourse!
Have a question? Just ask.
"Talk about representing something extremely complex that perhaps very few people in the US government have a handle on. Well here it is. Laid out, easy to read and compare. With data straight from the White House"
You would be hard pressed to find a more complex budget. The visualization conveys a tremendous amount of information in a small space, well 24x36"
"I work in the [classified], and I must say that's quite a piece of work you've created. Working in [classified] requires a lot of graphical interpretation of the budget, and this is one of the most effective tools I've seen. I wish I had thought of it."
"Your poster is extra cool. But you probably hear that a lot. I have shown it to my graphic design students as a great example of information design"
"I finally got my copy of your graph in the mail. From one graph designer to another, great work! I will put it beside my copy of Edward Tufte's "Napoleon's March" -- another great work in data organization."
"I have your chart hanging in my office - I work for the Dept. of Defense, and I enjoy reminding my fellow civil servants of the trust and confidence placed in us by the taxpayer, as evidenced by the sheer magnitude of dollars they send us. For me, it's a helpful reminder of how lucky I am to work here and that I'd better accomplish something meaningful with these resources."
"Great poster! I just got 2 of the 2008, one for work and one for home."
"Your "Federal Government Budget Poster" is perhaps the single best display I have seen of where and how our tax dollars are spent. A wonderful graphic that makes it easy to see the relative budgeted dollars for each agency, bureau and organizational unit in the government. Terrific job of sorting out a complicated subject. "
"We have it up in the lobby of 5 Sylvan Learning Centers. Everyone who studies it is captivated. We point out that everything is proportional, and like to point to the Department of Education. Our clients are amazed, and often horrified, to see how Congress sees education relative to, say, the "War of Terror". You know, I hear government expenditures referred to all the time on the news, and sometimes they even say "this contrasts to the Department of Defense's budget of ....", but NEVER in the context of the whole budget. It's quite the learning experience to see it all in one place! "
"Everyone is enamored with your budget graph! My students really liked seeing the "big picture" and some students commented that they were "visual people" and it improved their understanding of the federal budget. It is quite a conversation piece! Great idea!"
"The poster has gotten great responses from our clients, at our events and from visitors to our office. I haven't been able to distribute them to everyone that asked for fear of running out. I'm down to only six posters. We are definitely interested in increasing our order this year to 200."
"If you want a daily reminder of where all the tax money that doesn't go into your paycheck actually goes, then put this stunning new poster up on your wall. You may be relieved just to see what a magnificent display the people at WallStats.com can make materialize out of those dollars that seem to disappear so abstractly from your paycheck."
A stupendous graph. I've always been a fan of clever design imparting huge amounts of information in a graphical display."