So THAT is Why They Can Claim "Military Spending" is #1

I feel a bit silly for not writing down names and looking this up before-- in my defense, I was usually driving, so obviously not a good plan-- but anyways:
if you remove all the non-Vet entitlements and the interest payment, and then roll everything military related into "military spending," then it's a huge chunk of spending!

 I am going to call these "appropriated" programs, since that's what they are-- it means you have to get the funding every X years, rather than funds supposedly being built in.

Now, that non-descretionary spending includes impossible cuts like:

Adult Podiatry: Medicaid will no longer reimburse for foot care that is not medically necessary to treat an acute condition.

Whups, that's an actual cut (in Washington).

But here's one threatened but not cut:

Take Charge Family Planning: Program is available for incomes under 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level. Medicaid also will continue family planning services for a full year post pregnancies.

So my classmates that are still in college (yes...a decade later...) on mom and dad's dime don't have to pay for the Pill! Ditto for those who work only under the table, or do the welfare dance. I'm sure that Planned Parenthood doesn't have to worry too much about their fraud-cash being cut too much.

I'm going to call the "non-discretionary" spending, excluding interest, entitlements.  Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, TARP, and "other."

PDF for summary of FY2010
Copying from S-3 on page 6, I offer first the appropriated budgets, and then the entitlement budgets, for 2010, in billions.
1,421
2,037

Yes, when you ignore most of the budget, defense spending is a the major outlay!

Here's the defense spending, including overseas cont. costs: 755
Social Security: 696
Medicare: 452
Medicaid: 290
Interest: 176

Now, I'm all about finding ways to cut the fat in defense spending-- shoot, I think the gov't as a whole needs MAJOR overhaul for how it spends and on what, including some real protections on those who drop a dime on fraud, waste and abuse, and the way supply contracts for the military are written needs to be changed.  Also, military contractor unions suck, and civilians are used as "cost saving measures"...getting distracted.  (I've beat this drum before.)

All that said:
really, really dishonest to talk about Defense being the largest item in the budget.  Not that I'm surprised, just sayin'.