A nifty new website, "USAspending.gov," provides current information on federal spending. From the site itself:
Have you ever wanted to find more information on government spending? Have you ever wondered where Federal contracting dollars and grant awards go? Or perhaps you would just like to know, as a citizen, what the Government is really doing with your money.
If you answered "yes" to any of those questions the website can help you out. Link to it here or key www.usaspending.gov into your web browser. On my first visit I was interested to see the New York State Department of Health holding the current number 2 slot for federal assistance year-to-date. Here's the top five along with the associated numbers:
TOP 5 Assistance Recipients FY 2009 YTD
1 DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH CARE SERVICES $18,908,037,649
2 NEW YORK STATE DEPT OF HEALTH $18,335,672,042
3 TEXAS HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION $13,514,862,175
4 PENNSYLVANIA DEPT OF PUBLIC WELFARE $11,168,181,944
5 LOUISIANA DEPT OF HEALTH & HOSPITALS $5,031,984,907
The top 5 contractors (versus assistance recipients) were all military contractors.