• Carrolade@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Ah. That should probably be in the headline then, instead of just “spending” and “funding”.

      Regardless, the figures are still inaccurate.

      The $1.6 trillion in discretionary spending for FY24 is split between $842 billion for defense programs and $758 billion for nondefense activities, reflecting respective 3% and 7% boosts from FY23 enacted levels.

      https://about.bgov.com/brief/federal-appropriations-for-fy24/

    • Ledivin@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Edit: I have no idea why this is getting downvotes.

      Because you made it clear in this comment that the headline is biased by using incomplete terms and trying to hide what the actual spending was.

      Remember that nobody uses votes as intended, and nobody will ever manage to change that.

    • mozz@mbin.grits.dev
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      4 months ago

      Because making this distinction (apparently for no reason at all except that it provides a misleading way to present data that have nothing to do with the reality) is a bunch of bullshit.

      If you had said “here is how this data is false and what is the real information” I think you would be getting upvotes

      This may not be the intent on your part, but it kinda comes across like “oh this data isn’t a TOTAL bunch of bullshit, and here is a random arbitrary distinction underlying it which wasn’t mentioned which totally makes it make sense to present these numbers this way,” and my guess is you’re getting downvotes because if that were what you were saying, that would be simply doubling down on the dishonesty of the original chart, and people are downvoting it for dishonesty

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldOP
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        4 months ago

        Because making this distinction (apparently for no reason at all except that it provides a misleading way to present data

        Congress/the President don’t pass budgetary acts to set non-discretionary spending. The income/costs are statuary, and so their changes aren’t tied to the horse trading that routinely occurs as part of the appropriations process.

        here is a random arbitrary distinction underlying it

        The Appropriations Committee holds enormous influence over our national budgetary agenda precisely because they dictate how much money is made available to the various agencies. This isn’t random or arbitrary, it is fundamental to how Congress functions under Article One of the US Constitution.

        This is where the “GOTV WE NEED TO FIX THINGS” rhetoric rubber hits the fucking road. You’re not going to change how Social Security or Medicare operates from cycle to cycle, but you absolutely are going to change how the Dep of Ed, the Highway and Transportation Administration, and the Pentagon function.

        • mozz@mbin.grits.dev
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          4 months ago

          What on earth are you talking about?

          Setting aside the dishonesty of excluding medicare, medicaid, social security, and the big assistance programs that got passed recently from the “social / economic programs” line on a chart of government spending, yes of course congress / the president pass budgetary acts that set non-discretionary spending. That’s how that spending got there in the first place. Where did you think medicare and medicaid and the student loan forgiveness programs and everything got into the non-discretionary budget in the first place, if not from congress and the president passing budgetary acts?

          (This annoyed me so much that I went back and added a downvote to the pile for you)

          • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldOP
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            4 months ago

            Setting aside the dishonesty

            How is a discussion of discretionary spending changes dishonest? It’s the thing Congress sets every two years.

            congress / the president pass budgetary acts that set non-discretionary spending

            That’s not how the Social Security Trust or the Medicare Trust Fund work. You don’t appropriate funds at the start of every budget cycle to pay for them.