And we runnin' out of french fries and burrito coverings.

There’s lots of talk about the federal deficit these days. How much do you know about the federal budget, federal revenues and the deficit? You should at least know the basics before the next Tea Party Rally or march to protest spending cuts (transportation and refreshments courtesy of AARP). So pay attention, ignorant Americans and Foreigners. Today we'll focus on Budget Basics.

These numbers are for FY 2010. (Source: Internet)

Federal expenditures: $3.5 trillion (24% of GDP)

Federal revenues: $2.2 trillion (15% of GDP)

Budget deficit: $1.3 trillion (9% of GDP)

So how does Uncle Sam spend all that cash money, you ask. About 80% of the budget comes from five categories:

• Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP: $732 billion (21% of the budget). $452 billion went to Medicare, which provides coverage to 47 million people age 65+ or with disabilities (15% of the population). $280 billion funds Medicaid and CHIP, which provide health care or long-term care to 60 million low-income children, parents, elderly people, and people with disabilities (19.3% of the population). Medicaid and CHIP require matching payments from the states.

• Defense and security: $705 billion (20% of the budget). This includes the cost of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, which totaled $170 billion in 2010.

• Social Security: $707 billion (20% of the budget). As of March 2011, 59.8 million people receive Social Security benefits of some sort. That’s 19.2% of the population.

• Safety net programs: $496 billion (14% of the budget). These programs include: the refundable portion of the earned-income and child tax credits, which assist low- and moderate-income working families through the tax code; programs that provide cash payments to eligible individuals or households, including Supplemental Security Income for the elderly or disabled poor and unemployment insurance; various forms of in-kind assistance for low-income families and individuals, including food stamps, school meals, low-income housing assistance, child-care assistance, and assistance in meeting home energy bills; and various other programs such as those that aid abused and neglected children.

• Interest on the national debt: $196 billion (6 percent of the budget). As of March 25, 2011, the total federal debt was $14.26 trillion. That’s 97.3% of calendar year 2010’s GDP of $14.66 trillion.

And here it is all USA Today style: