UP Economics - Teacher Graded Federal Government Spending Discussion Discussion: For this assignment, please look over the table, read the instructions below, and then review the prompts. You will then: 1. Click "New Thread" above to make an initial post responding to the prompts, 2. and then *reply to the initial post of two other students. *You will not be able to view other posts until you are made your initial post. The federal government receives revenue each year mostly from taxes (individual income taxes, payroll taxes, corporate income taxes, and excise taxes). They use that revenue to pay for federal programs and services. The table below shows a breakdown of federal government spending in 2018. Federal Spending by Category (2018) Total Amount % of Total Social Security: $987.8 billion 23.4% National defense: $631.2 billion 15% Medicare: $588.7 billion 14% Health: $551.2 billion 13.1% Social safety net programs: $495.3 billion 11.8% Interest on debt: $325 billion 7.7% Veterans benefits and services: $178.9 billion 4.2% Education, training, employment, & social services: |$95.5 billion 2.3% Transportation: $92.8 billion 2.2% International affairs: $49 billion 1.2% Administration of justice: $60.4 billion 1.4% Community and regional development: $42.2 billion 1%General government: $23.9 billion 0.6% Agriculture: $21.8 billion 0.5% Energy: $2.2 billion 0.05% After reviewing the table above, you will make an initial post by responding to the discussion prompts below. (Research further any of the categories in the table that you don't fully understand. Here are a few links that might help: USA Today, copp.org, TurboTax, Dave Ramsey, Cheapism, usaspending.gov.) Make sure to answer in paragraph form using complete sentences. Your initial post and two replies should be free from errors in spelling, grammar, capitalization, and punctuation. As always, proofread your post and responses before submitting! After making your initial post, reply to the initial posts of at least two of your classmates in which you comment on their post and/or explain why you agree or disagree with them. Each response should be multiple complete sentences and should add to the conversation. Use information from the table and other research to help validate and strengthen your comments and opinion. Remember to always be RESPECTFUL in your responses. This is an academic assignment, so use academic language. Slang words or short replies such as "I agree" or "I like what you wrote" are not acceptable for credit. You may need to check back later in the week to make your replies if there are not enough posts earlier in the week. Discussion Prompts (answer all three prompts below): You should have at least 7 complete sentences in your initial post. 1. Using economic reasoning, which 2-3 categories would you increase the spending in? What percentage of the taxes would you allocate to these categories? Thoroughly explain your economic reasoning for why you would choose to spend the most in these categories and how an increase in spending in those categories would be beneficial for the economy, our country, and/or our citizens. 2. Using economic reasoning, which 2-3 categories would you decrease the spending in? Thoroughly explain your reasoning for why you would spend less in these categories and why the decrease in spending would not have a significant negative impact on the economy. 3. If people were allowed to choose where their tax dollars went, what do you see as a possible negative consequence(s)? Explain. Grading Rubric: . Original Post About Your Article - 70% of your grade . Two Responses - 30% of your grade