Kevin Colby: News, culture, political blog

Some interesting articles from Neal Boortz’s website:

Nancy Wants Diversity In Radio

“Diversity” is going to be the new way to justify the regulation of talk radio. To a Democrat, how can ANYONE be against the idea of diversity? I’ll tell you - if it is government mandated. And that is exactly what Nancy supports.  Read the  full story.

Stimulus Money To Mexico

Try this: Google “money to Mexico.” I got over 100,000 hits. Why? That would be because we have millions of illegal Mexican aliens in this country who send most of the money they earn back to their families in Mexico. Now there is something to be admired here. Consider the number of American deadbeat dads who spend money week after week on their cigarettes and beer but nothing for the children they’ve fathered along the way .. but I digress:  Read the full story.

Nancy’s Personal Airline…The U.S. Military

I’ve been telling you about this for some weeks now … ever since our wonderful Democrat congress started demonizing anyone who uses a private jet in their business.  Read the full story.

Let The Private Sector Do What It Does Best

Have you heard the news about Wal-Mart? Whenever I mention Wal-Mart, most liberals start rolling their eyes … it is “anti-union” or it is an “evil corporation.” Well Wal-Mart has decided to enter into the world of digitized healthcare data by unveiling its own version of high-tech medical records.  Read the full story.

The Zimbabwe Debacle

Republican South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford has been saying for a while that he would turn down any stimulus money that comes his way via this economic stimulus bill. And as of yesterday, he made it official … turning down about a quarter of his state’s $2.8 billion share. He says, “Fundamentally, if you boil down what the stimulus means for South Carolina, it means we would go through the process of spending a bunch of money we don’t have.” Finally, a guy who gets it.  Read the full story.

Total receipts

Estimated receipts for fiscal year 2010 are $2,381 billion, an increase of 8.9%.

• $1,061 billion - Individual income taxes
• $940 billion - Social Security and other payroll tax
• $222 billion - Corporation income taxes
• $77 billion - Excise taxes
• $23 billion - Customs duties
• $20 billion - Estate and gift taxes
• $22 billion - Deposits of earnings
• $16 billion - Other

Total spending

The President’s budget for 2010 totals $3,552 billion. Percentages in parentheses indicate percentage change compared to 2009. This budget request is broken down by the following expenditures:

• Mandatory spending: $2,184 billion (-17.9%)
  • $695 billion (+4.9%) - Social Security
  • $453 billion (+6.6%) - Medicare
  • $290 billion (+12.0%) - Medicaid
  • $0 billion (-100%) - Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)
  • $0 billion (-100%) - Financial stabilization efforts
  • $11 billion (+275%) - Potential disaster costs
  • $571 billion (-15.2%) - Other mandatory programs
  • $164 billion (+18.0%) - Interest on National Debt

• Discretionary spending: $1,368 billion (+7.0%)
  • $663.7 billion (+12.7%) - Department of Defense (including Overseas Contingency Operations)
  • $78.7 billion (-1.7%) - Department of Health and Human Services
  • $72.5 billion (+2.8%) - Department of Transportation
  • $52.5 billion (+10.3%) - Department of Veterans Affairs
  • $51.7 billion (+40.9%) - Department of State and Other International Programs
  • $47.5 billion (+18.5%) - Department of Housing and Urban Development
  • $46.7 billion (+12.8%) - Department of Education
  • $42.7 billion (+1.2%) - Department of Homeland Security
  • $26.3 billion (-0.4%) - Department of Energy
  • $26.0 billion (+8.8%) - Department of Agriculture
  • $23.9 billion (-6.3%) - Department of Justice
  • $18.7 billion (+5.1%) - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  • $13.8 billion (+48.4%) - Department of Commerce
  • $13.3 billion (+4.7%) - Department of Labor
  • $13.3 billion (+4.7%) - Department of the Treasury
  • $12.0 billion (+6.2%) - Department of the Interior
  • $10.5 billion (+34.6%) - Environmental Protection Agency
  • $9.7 billion (+10.2%) - Social Security Administration
  • $7.0 billion (+1.4%) - National Science Foundation
  • $5.1 billion (-3.8%) - Corps of Engineers
  • $5.0 billion (+100%) - National Infrastructure Bank
  • $1.1 billion (+22.2%) - Corporation for National and Community Service
  • $0.7 billion (0.0%) - Small Business Administration
  • $0.6 billion (-14.3%) - General Services Administration
  • $19.8 billion (+3.7%) - Other Agencies
  • $105 billion - Other

Deficit

With projected receipts significantly less than projected outlays, the budget proposed by President Obama predicts a net deficit of approximately $1,171.4 billion, adding to a United States governmental debt of about $6,578.9 billion.

Total receipts

Estimated receipts for fiscal year 2009 are 2.7 trillion(+7.1%).

• $1.205 trillion - Individual income tax
• $949.4 billion - Social Security and other payroll taxes
• $339.2 billion - Corporate income tax
• $68.9 billion - Excise taxes
• $29.1 billion - Customs duties
• $26.3 billion - Estate and gift taxes
• $47.9 billion - Other

Total spending

A pie chart representing spending by category for the US budget for 2009

The President’s budget for 2009 totals $3.1 trillion. Percentages in parentheses indicate percentage change compared to 2008. This budget request is broken down by the following expenditures:

• Mandatory spending: $1.89 trillion (+6.2%)
  • $644 billion - Social Security
  • $408 billion - Medicare
  • $224 billion - Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)
  • $360 billion - Unemployment/Welfare/Other mandatory spending
  • $260 billion - Interest on National Debt
• Discretionary spending: $1.21 trillion (+4.9%)
  • $515.4 billion - United States Department of Defense
  • $145.2 billion(2008*) - Global War on Terror
  • $70.4 billion - United States Department of Health and Human Services
  • $59.2 billion - United States Department of Education
  • $44.8 billion - United States Department of Veterans Affairs
  • $38.5 billion - United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
  • $38.3 billion - State and Other International Programs
  • $37.6 billion - United States Department of Homeland Security
  • $25.0 billion - United States Department of Energy
  • $20.8 billion - United States Department of Agriculture
  • $20.3 billion - United States Department of Justice
  • $17.6 billion - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  • $12.5 billion - United States Department of the Treasury
  • $11.5 billion - United States Department of Transportation
  • $10.6 billion - United States Department of the Interior
  • $10.5 billion - United States Department of Labor
  • $8.4 billion - Social Security Administration
  • $7.1 billion - United States Environmental Protection Agency
  • $6.9 billion - National Science Foundation
  • $6.3 billion - Judicial branch (United States federal courts)
  • $4.7 billion - Legislative branch (United States Congress)
  • $4.7 billion - United States Army Corps of Engineers
  • $0.4 billion - Executive Office of the President
  • $0.7 billion - Small Business Administration
  • $7.2 billion - Other agencies
  • $39.0 billion(2008*) - Other Off-budget Discretionary Spending

The financial cost of the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan are not part of the defense budget; they are appropriations.

Deficit

With projected receipts significantly less than projected outlays, the budget proposed by President Bush predicts a net deficit of approximately 407 billion dollars, adding to a United States governmental debt of about $10.2 trillion.

Total receipts

Estimated receipts for fiscal year 2008 were $2.66 trillion.

• $1.25 trillion - Individual income tax
• $927.2 billion - Social Security and other payroll tax
• $314.9 billion - Corporate income tax
• $68.1 billion - Excise tax
• $29.2 billion - Customs duties
• $25.7 billion - Estate and gift taxes
• $50.7 billion - Other

Total spending

A pie chart representing spending by category for the US budget for 2008

The President’s budget for 2008 totals $2.9 trillion. Percentages in parentheses indicate percentage change compared to 2007. This budget request is broken down by the following expenditures:

• Mandatory spending: $1.788 trillion (+4.2%)
  • $608 billion (+4.5%) - Social Security
  • $386 billion (+5.2%) - Medicare
  • $209 billion (+5.6%) - Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)
  • $324 billion (+1.8%) - Unemployment/Welfare/Other mandatory spending
  • $261 billion (+9.2%) - Interest on National Debt

• Discretionary spending: $1.114 trillion (+3.1%)
  • $481.4 billion (+12.1%) - Department of Defense
  • $145.2 billion (+45.8%) - Global War on Terror
  • $69.3 billion (+0.3%) - Department of Health and Human Services
  • $56.0 billion (+0.0%) - Department of Education
  • $39.4 billion (+18.7%) - Department of Veterans Affairs
  • $35.2 billion (+1.4%) - Department of Housing and Urban Development
  • $35.0 billion (+22.0%) - Department of State and Other International Programs
  • $34.3 billion (+7.2%) - Department of Homeland Security
  • $24.3 billion (+6.6%) - Department of Energy
  • $20.2 billion (+4.1%) - Department of Justice
  • $20.2 billion (+3.1%) - Department of Agriculture
  • $17.3 billion (+6.8%) - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  • $12.1 billion (+13.1%) - Department of Transportation
  • $12.1 billion (+6.1%) - Department of the Treasury
  • $10.6 billion (+2.9%) - Department of the Interior
  • $10.6 billion (-9.4%) - Department of Labor
  • $51.8 billion (+9.7%) - Other On-budget Discretionary Spending
  • $39.0 billion - Other Off-budget Discretionary Spending

The Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan are not included in the regular budget. Instead they are funded through special appropriations.^[1]

Deficit

With projected receipts significantly less than projected outlays, the budget proposed by President Bush predicts a net deficit of approximately 240 billion dollars, adding to a United States governmental debt of about $10.8 trillion.