History
Prior to the Great Depression, nearly all federal expenditures were discretionary. However, following the passage of the Social Security Act in 1935, an increasing percentage of the federal budget was devoted to mandatory spending. In 1947, Social Security accounted for just under five percent of the federal budget and less than one-half of one percent of gross domestic product (GDP). By 1962, 13 percent of the federal budget and half of all mandatory spending was committed to Social Security. In 1965 Congress created Medicare, a government administered health insurance program for senior citizens. In the 10 years following the creation of Medicare, mandatory spending increased from 30 percent to over 50 percent of the federal budget. Though the rate of increase has since slowed, mandatory spending composed about 60 percent of the federal budget in FY 2012.
Read more about this topic: Mandatory Spending
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“To history therefore I must refer for answer, in which it would be an unhappy passage indeed, which should shew by what fatal indulgence of subordinate views and passions, a contest for an atom had defeated well founded prospects of giving liberty to half the globe.”
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