[quote=SK in CV]
Defense spending over the same period went from about $400B to $800B, an increase of 100%.

The biggest portion of entitlement spending is SS. Yet SS collections over those same years exceeded SS spending. That increase in spending is purely a function of more people reaching retirement age. Much of the additional entitlement increases were purely a function of economic decline. Those expenditures will (and already have) decline as the economy improves. There has been no major permanent statutory entitlement expansion in the last 10 years with the exception of the drug coverage for medicare recipients (save for those that have not yet fully gone into effect).[/quote]

Here’s a complete break down of each government category in spending between 2002 and 2012. Social security is currently the biggest, but it’s Medicare that’s probably the biggest problem.