Kraftwork called it right. The Military budget is about 58% of discretionary spending.... Discretionary spending accounts for less than 35% of total outlay. Mandatory spending is about 60% by now. Debt service makes up the rest ~5-6%.
Generally when talking about federal budgets people only seem to reference discretionary spending to avoid the entitlement programs that WILL crowd out all other spending given a long enough time frame.
Look at defense spending as the biggest category of discretionary spending... Assuming rough 2010 numbers, Defense is 58% of 35% of the total budget. Even if you did a 20% cut to defense (significant) you would be talking about a ~4% overall cut from annual spending. So gutting the military is a minor savings in the big picture especially contrasted to no mandatory spending reform. (not arguing that it couldn't use some cutting regardless)
Considering the source but understanding they are based on CBO & Public estimates... consider the below projections:
Federal
Debt expectations as a percentage of GDP driven by mandatory programs like SS/Medicare/Medicade:
[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]
Look at a more granular level and you see why the debt limit is such a hot topic this year...
[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]
CBO Estimates that Entitlement spending based on current obligations will consume more 100% of annual tax revenues by 2049...
[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]
And of course, another reason why debt size matters apart from impacting credit re: 10yr bonds... (in $B)
[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]
Good posts Kraft.