These are some good posts. To some extent more to do with policy than budgetary processes but they do connect and Randy and Meghan have done a nice job laying out some issues.

The defense spending issue is usually a surprise to many. Given the size of some of our weapons programs you would think it would be much higher. Part of this is due to the fact that our standing army is not as large as it once was. Weapons systems are expensive, but personnel is even more pricey. I also think that some of the complicated nature of defense budgets is due to the procurement process and the length of time for building weapons. But you do bring up a good point, if the slice of the pie keeps getting smaller, why such and involved process.

Meghan's issues on entitlements also bring up a variety issues that have long been debated. A few points that might help. First, the level of corruption by beneficiaries in entitlement programs is actually pretty low, I don't have the research in front of me but the numbers are much smaller than we think. The problem is that when someone violates the public trust, we are rightfully more outraged than in private corruption. As you pointed out, entitlements often benefit the least well-off in our society (for whatever reason, whether a person has had a "difficult life" or they just did not act responsibly). In your scenario of the two people going into a skilled nursing facility you don't find the person who to private pay as often as one would think -- there is a whole industry of attorneys and accountants who specialize in "spending down" -- that is legally moving your resources to family members and to others sheltered accounts. It doesn't mean that it doesn't happen, but it can be controlled. But you are right, entitlements continue to grow and the health of many of these systems is on the verge of failure. What is it about our political system that makes it difficult to find the will to confront these issues? Do they simply need to collapse? Good job everyone.