In January 1918, some ten months before the end of World War I, US President Woodrow Wilson had written a list of proposed war aims which he called the Fourteen Points..
Today, discretionary spending makes up less than 40 percent of the entire budget. Net Interest-Net interest is the only part of future spending that cannot be reduced by legislative action because it is money that must be paid to service the U.S. debt.
The United States federal budget consists of mandatory expenditures, discretionary spending for defense, Cabinet Departments and agencies, and interest payments on debt. During FY2016, the federal government spent $3.27 trillion on a budget or cash basis, up $18 billion or 1% vs. FY2015 spending of $3.25 trillion. Major categories of FY 2016 spending included: Healthcare such as Medicare and Medicaid, Social Security, Non-defense discretionary spending used to run federal Departments and Agencie