Here's something to chew on

The pie chart illustrates federal discretionary spending in fiscal year 2006. The discretionary budget refers to the part of the federal budget proposed by the President, and debated and decided by Congress each year. This part of the budget constitutes more than one-third of total federal spending. The remainder of the federal budget is called 'mandatory spending.' Fiscal year 2006 runs from October 1, 2005 to September 30, 2006.