Budget Matters Blog


Social Security Benefits: What You Give Isn’t What You Get

Because the Social Security program is an earned benefit programs – future beneficiaries pay into the system while they are members of the work force – it is often assumed that your benefits are based on your contributions to the program. In this model, Social Security operates like a government ...


Pie Week: Spending Pies United

During Pie Week, we’ve explored three types of federal spending pies: total, mandatory, and discretionary. Judging from your comments on our Facebook page, you have strong opinions about the numbers on these charts. To wrap up the week, we think it’s important to see the spending charts next to one ...


Pie Week Continues: Mandatory Spending

For the second day of Pie Week, we present the mandatory spending pie. Mandatory spending is part of total federal spending, which we explored in yesterday's total federal spending pie.


Despite Deep Spending Cuts, GOP Plan Achieves Little Deficit Reduction in 2012

Chairman Ryan’s deep cuts would only achieve modest deficit reductions in 2012The budget proposal released by Rep. Paul Ryan’s this week includes a slew of cuts to “non-security” discretionary programs in 2012.  The deepest cuts are illustrated below.   Rep. Ryan proposes we spend less than half as much as President ...