David Wessel on the federal budget

David Wessel (see here) has a very informative piece in the Wall Street Journal regarding "the essential facts" of the federal budget.  His piece contains the graph below (click to enlarge).  The entire piece is a "must read" for everyone.

Below are the "essential facts" according to Wessel.

1. Nearly two-thirds of annual federal spending goes out the door without any vote by congress.
2. The U.S. defense budget is greater than the combined defense budgets of the next 17 largest spenders.
3.  About $1 of every $4 the federal government spends goes to health care today.  This is rising inexorably.
4. Firing every federal employee wouldn't save enough to cut the deficit in half.
5. The share of income most American families pay in federal taxes has been falling for more than 30 years.
6. The federal government borrowed 36 cents of every dollar it spent last year, but had no trouble raising the money.

Wessel concludes his piece with the following:

"This truly is unsustainable. The U.S. today is in the postdenial phase of coping with deficits, the ones that will persist even after the economy regains its health. No one of consequence in Washington argues that deficits don't matter. Deciding what to do about them is contentious because it's about apportioning the pain. Getting the facts straight is a necessary first step"