Top 10 Charts of 2011

Brandon Stewart / December 29, 2011

Just how high is America’s tax burden? How bad is the entitlement crisis? Sure, the national debt is big, but just how big is it really? Numbers help tell the story, but as the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.

This year, people turned to Heritage to get the answers in the 2011 Budget Chartbook. Listed below are the top ten charts from Heritage’s Budget Chartbook as determined by pageviews.

1. Defense Spending Has Declined While Entitlement Spending Has Increased
2. Federal Revenues Have More Than Tripled Since 1965
3. Tax Receipts Return to Historical Average
4. Total Tax Burden Is Rising to Highest Level in History
5. Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security Will Consume All Tax Revenues in 2049
6. Federal Revenues by Source
7. National Debt Set to Skyrocket
8. Federal Spending Is Growing Faster Than Federal Revenue
9. Federal Spending per Household Is Skyrocketing
10. The Top 10 Percent of Earners Paid 70 Percent of Federal Income Taxes