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.
About 60 percent of government spending comes from the federal government; About 24 percent is spent by state governments and 27 percent by local governments. About 10 percent of total spending is transferred from the federal government to state and local governments. Table 2.03: Total Spending Details FY 2016. The federal government is budgeted to spend $3.95 trillion in FY 2016, of which about $0.7 trillion is transferred to state and local governments.