For those policy wonks on DailyKos, check out this really cool 2008 Presidential Budget Request interactive poster.
You can zoom and to see the details and the actual numbers. A little more analysis after the jump.
The poster has a ton of information to digest. The entire budget is found at the bottom right corner of the poster. Notable tidbits include:
--Total Receipts estimated at 2.662 trillion
--Total Outlays estimated at 2.902 trillion
(Note that the amount of corporate income taxes are projected to decrease by 8% at a time of record corporate profits)
--The discretionary budget is estimated at $1.075 trillion with 67% of that devoted to military or national security
So who are the big losers in the President's 2008 budget request? Well, it doesn't take a well-positioned DC insider to guess: State Department international aid and development (AIDS being an exception), the EPA, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Granted some of the decreases are not huge, but there seems to be a trend in those agencies. Also keep in mind that "0%" change is actually a budget cut with inflation considered.
Here are some specifics on the "losers":
The State Department
Development Assistance (-67%)
International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (-10%)
USAID Operating Expenses (-5%)
International Disaster and Famine Assistance (-15%)
Federal Labor Relations Authority (-8%)
Corporation for Public Broadcasting (-25%)
Office of Violence Against Women (-11%)
US Department of Housing and Urban Development
Community Development Fund (-28%)
Housing for the Elderly (-23%)
Department of Homeland Security
FEMA (-14%)
Environmental Protection Agency (Total Budget cut is 4%)
Clean and Safe Water (-9%)
Healthy Communities and Ecosystems (-4%)
Clean Air and Global Climate Change (-3%)
Land Preservation and Restoration (-2%)
CDC
Health Resources and Services Administration (-13%)
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (-5%)
Terrorism Preparedness (-3%)
Administration for Children and Families (-10%)
Did you catch that? FEMA's proposed budget is cut by 14%. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is down by 25%. I guess the fact that Bill Moyers is back drives them crazy! Can you see a pattern for the types of programs that were cut?
The big winners? You guessed it: the military. Check out the double-digit increases at the left-hand side of the poster in specific military programs. You can clearly see the military priorities such as increasing seapower and modernizing the U.S. Navy fleet. Hell, the Zumwalt-class destroyer budget is over half the budget of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease budget. NIAID is the major funder of infectious disease research in the U.S (about a third devoted to HIV/AIDS, another third to "biodefense," and the last third devoted to all other infectious disease research). And you want to know the big "secret" about that new design? Many experts both inside and outside the Navy think it is inherently instable and will capsize in certain rough sea conditions! Go Navy!
So, go check it out and report back what you find surprising!