Social programs eat Federal Funds.

Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid combined take up almost half of the federal government's nondefense, nonintelligence spending in 2005, according to the latest edition of the Census Bureau's Consolidated Federal Funds Report, which details government spending at the state and county level. Of the $2.3 trillion spent that year on direct expenditures, grants, contracts, loans, disability, insurance, and salaries and wages, almost $1.1 trillion went to the entitlement programs, with Social Security spending around $568 billion, Medicare around $336 billion, and Medicaid around $192 billion. Total spending was 6% higher than in 2004. Per capita federal spending was highest in Alaska, Virginia, and Maryland. The report can be accessed at www.census.gov.