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From: renner@uiucdcs.CS.UIUC.EDU
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: Supply-side Economics: the  Savings
Message-ID: <29200244@uiucdcs>
Date: Mon, 4-Nov-85 11:13:00 EST
Article-I.D.: uiucdcs.29200244
Posted: Mon Nov  4 11:13:00 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 7-Nov-85 21:35:10 EST
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Nf-From: uiucdcs.CS.UIUC.EDU!renner    Nov  4 10:13:00 1985


>  Ronald Reagan has spent over $1 trillion on the military during his
>  administration, far more than combined outlays for "social spending".
>  For your information, Mr. Wheeler, "social spending" is usually not
>  defined as money for the Weather Bureau, the Parks System,
>  federal highways, etc. but money for various welfare programs.
>				-- Tim Sevener (orb@whuts)

Tim makes this claim from time to time, and it doesn't seem to matter that
I usually post statistics which show that it's utter nonsense.  I wish Tim
would get a copy of the *US Statistical Abstract* and look this up for
himself each time he gets the urge to post an article about the federal
budget.

For the record, military spending does not exceed outlays for "social
spending".  Data for the following table was obtained from the US
Statistical Abstract, 1984, p.316; the numbers indicate acutal outlays in
millions of dollars.
		                        1980    1983
				       -----   -----
		National Defense       135.9   214.8
		Vet.Benefits            21.2    24.4
		Total Military         157.1   239.2
		% of total outlays      27.2    29.7

		Income Security        193.1   282.5
		Health                  55.2    82.4
		Education               30.8    26.7
		Total Social Spending  279.1   391.6
		% of total outlays      48.4    48.6

1980 is of course the last full Carter year.  The figures for 1983 are
estimates in the Abstract; other sources (Congressional Quarterly, Feb. 4,
1984, pp.206-7) indicate that the actual figures for the military are
*lower*, and actual figures for social spending are *much higher*).
The budgets of the weather bureau, parks system, federal highways, etc. do
not appear anywhere in the table.

Scott Renner
{pur-ee,ihnp4}!uiucdcs!renner