WE DON'T MAKE THIS DATA UP! IT COMES FROM THE U. S. TREASURY DEPARTMENT! NO ADJUSTMENTS.

NDAC creates this bar chart using data published monthly by the Treasury Department. Specifically we get the data directly from the Department's own Monthly Treasury Statement and put it into a spreadsheet. We create the bar chart, then paste the chart directly into this web site.

Separately, NDAC studies the Budget Proposal submitted to Congress each year by the President of the United States. One of the documents that goes along with the Budget Proposal, "Historical Tables", is published by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). You can download your own copy directly from OMB.

We found a number of "strange" items in the 2011 Tables accompanying the Federal Budget proposal President Obama presented to Congress.

But one in particular got our attention. Look at Table 4.1 in the document. The President proposes a huge decrease in the budget of the Treasury Department. Its budget includes the interest payments on the national debt and the budget to run the IRS. So how could this decrease possibly occur? Interest rates have not dropped from 2009 to 2010 to 2011; the debt has not gone down; and the Department is not getting smaller.

But there is also a huge increase in the Department of Labor budget, completely offsetting the reduction in the Treasury's budget. And just what is it that the federal government is doing in this Department of Labor? What is our money being used for? We're trying to find out.

Also, the Department of Education budget is almost double that from 2010 actual expenditure. There are other budget increases. Look at the bar chart on the web site (see below).

The Historical Tables document shows the details, but one can only infer the budget shuffle, based on the increases and decreases.

We will be watching the Monthly Treasury Report to examine the actual expenditures by the Treasury Department as the year progresses.

Just for clarification: "entitlement" expenditures are spread out over several agencies, not just Health and Human Services. Agriculture Department administers "food stamps", HUD is all welfare, a significant portion of Education Department is free food, ... and NDAC still questions what is the sudden new big spending in Department of Labor?

We started thinking, budget increases ... labor unions, teacher's unions ... just thinking ...