Obama Gets Interactive With Budget

The White House compiled Monday a nifty interactive graphic for American taxpayers to study President Obama's fiscal year 2013 budget proposed and sent to Congress.

The graphic allows for users to mouse over various boxes that reveal what percentage of the federal budget each spending program amounts to. Social Security, health care and national defense were the largest commitments, as the three areas made up about 62% of the budget."We must restore fiscal responsibility, and reform our government to make it more effective, efficient and open to the American people," a statement on the White House Web site said. "It targets scarce federal resources to the areas critical to winning the future: education, innovation, clean energy, and infrastructure." Education and job training accounted for some 2.8% of the budget while transportation -- which includes infrastructure expenditures -- totaled about 2.7% of the president's 2012 proposal.Mitt Romney called Obama's budget proposal an "insult" to American taxpayers and said it took no meaningful steps to curb an entitlement crisis."The President has failed to offer a single serious idea to save Social Security and is the only president in modern history to cut Medicare benefits for seniors," Romney said in a statement.House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy's (R., Calif.) office released a YouTube video that called Obama's budget "monster" and showed images of poorly costumed monsters traipsing through old black-and-white horror movies."It's back, the return of the monster budget. Run, don't walk; it spends too much, it taxes too much, it borrows too much," an announcers voice said on the video. "We have to stop it before it's too late."Among some other notable programs, international affairs expenditures would amount to 1.7% of the budget, veterans benefits could come to about 3.3% and unemployment compensation in Obama's budget would make up 2.5% of it.>Follow Joe Deaux on Twitter. Subscribe on Facebook.>To order reprints of this article, click here: Reprints