Annual Federal Spending Increased by 16% In 2009

From Personal Liberty Digest:

Annual Federal Spending Increased By 16 Percent In 2009


October 11, 2010 by Personal Liberty News Desk

The U.S. Census Bureau recently announced that Federal domestic spending increased to $3.2 trillion in 2009, which equals approximately $10,500 per person living in the United States.



This level of spending marked a 16 percent increase from 2008 and it represents the largest spike since the Census Bureau began collecting data in 1983. The annual increase was due in part to the $787 billion stimulus package called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which was signed by President Barack Obama in February 2009.



The Bureau revealed that the state with the highest per capita Federal spending was Alaska with $20,351. The lowest was Nevada with $7,148 per person.



Entitlement programs Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security accounted for about 46 percent, or $1.5 trillion, of the spending. The one-year increase for these programs was $136 billion.



The data shows that salaries and wages for Federal employees totaled nearly $300 billion, with 46 percent of that share going to the Department of Defense.



The government spent about $86 billion on unemployment compensation last year, which was a 115 percent increase from 2008