Deficit cutting: The game

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GRAPHIC BY TIM LOGAN • tlogan@post-dispatch.com
AND JOSH RENAUD • jrenaud@post-dispatch.com | Posted: Thursday, July 28, 2011 6:00 am

If the U.S. Treasury can't borrow any more money, it's going to have to make some tough choices. We thought we'd give you a try first.

The federal government projects it will have tax revenue of $172.4 billion for the month of August, but expenses of $306.7 billion. So what programs would you fund? And what would you cut?

Make your choices below. When you are finished, click "Evaluate" to see if you were able to balance the budget.


  • ProgramCost (billions)
  • Interest on Treasury bonds $29.0
  • Social Security benefits $49.2
  • Medicare/Medicaid payments to providers (i.e. doctors, hospitals) $50.0
  • Defense Vendor Payments (contracts with companies like Boeing) $31.7
  • Unemployment Insurance Benefits $12.8
  • Pay for Active Duty Military $2.9
  • Veterans Benefits (VA hospitals, etc.) $2.9
  • Federal Salaries and Benefits $14.2
  • Pell Grants $10.4
  • Special education programs $3.6
  • Other federal education spending $6.2
  • Food stamps and Temp. Assistance for Needy Families (i.e. welfare) $9.3
  • Dept. of Labor (job training, etc.) $1.3
  • Dept. of Justice (FBI, federal courts, etc.) $1.4
  • Dept. of Energy (energy research, national nuclear programs) $3.5
  • Health and Human Services grants (medical research, public health) $8.1
  • Federal Highway Administration $4.3
  • Environmental Protection Agency $0.9
  • IRS Refunds $3.9
  • Small Business Administration $0.3
  • Federal Transit Administration $1.3
  • HUD (housing assistance for the poor) $6.7
  • Other spending $52.8
  • Your total spending so far:$0

Programs you funded:

Programs you cut:

Posted in Multimedia, Business, Local, National-and-international, White-label on Thursday, July 28, 2011 6:00 am Updated: 1:31 am. | Tags: Federal Deficit, Debt Ceiling, Tim Logan, Josh Renaud, Congress, Barack Obama, Multimedia,

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