So what is this thing?

"Death and Taxes" is a large representational graph and poster of the federal budget. It contains over 500 programs and departments and almost every program that receives over 200 million dollars annually. The data is straight from the president's 2012 budget request and will be debated, amended, and approved by Congress to begin the fiscal year. All of the item circles are proportional in size to their funding levels for visual comparison and the percentage change from both 2012 and 2002 is included so you can spot trends.

Ok, so what is it REALLY?

"Death and Taxes" is more than just numbers. It is a uniquely revealing look at our national priorities, that fluctuate yearly, according to the wishes of the President, the power of Congress, and the will of the people. Thousands of pages of raw data have been boiled down to one poster that provides the most open and accessible record of our nations' spending you will ever find. If you pay taxes, then you have paid for a small part of everything in the poster. "Death and Taxes" is an essential poster for any responsible citizen or information junkie.

FAQ

Why do you focus on the discretionary budget?

The discretionary budget funds all cabinet level departments and what is referred to most often when people think of the 'federal government.' It is the single largest part of the budget at one trillion dollars or roughly one third of pot. It is also the portion of the budget that Congress can easily push numbers around year to year which makes it a great tool for tracking our real national priorities. The total budget is depicted (not to scale) in the bottom right corner of the Death and Taxes poster.

Entitlement spending is also not included in detail for practical reasons. Social Security and Medicare cannot be broken down into small programs as other governmental departments can. The bulk of the funds are small payments to millions of people which cannot be graphed in the same manner as the rest of the poster. If entitlement spending were included to scale with the discretionary budget the overall detail of the poster would have to be decreased dramatically if the 24"x36" size were to me maintained.

What do you consider military or national security spending?

While many people think the military is confined to the Department of Defense, that is not the case. The Department of Defense has budgeted $553 billion, but that does not include the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funding, which is listed as $118 billion. The Whitehouse also lists the following as security funding. Department of Energy - $11.2 billion (this is mostly related to nuclear weapons), Homeland Security - $43.6 billion, Veterans Affairs - $57 billion, State Department - $58.5 billion. There are other various pockets of military and security related funding in other civilian departments as well. It all adds up to $895 billion.

How come some numbers differ from last years poster?

The poster is of the President's February budget request. While the President may terminate a program, Congress may continue funding for it, and unless the President veto's the congressional resolution, funding will continue for the 2012 terminated program. These numbers are constantly in flux and are revised mid year.

Is the data accurate?

Yes. The figures used to create the graph come directly from the President's official budget request and the comptroller of the Department of Defense. The Intelligence budget figures are estimates from globalsecurity.org.

I'm Jess Bachman, a 31 year old graphic designer and Creative Director at Visual.ly I specialize in infographics and viral content. If you use the internet, you have seen my work. You can contact me at Jess(at)byJess.net

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