Himes Serves Budget Pie to Celebrate Pi Day

Press Release

In recognition of National Pi Day, Congressman Jim Himes (CT-4) served his constituents a budget pie today, illustrating the portions of the federal budget spent on various federal programs with a pie graph. Pi Day is recognized on March 14th, symbolizing the value of the constant π, approximately 3.14, the ratio of a circle's diameter to its circumference. Himes hopes to help constituents better understand the make-up of the federal budget and compel an honest discussion about how to best prioritize federal spending and reduce the debt.

"While pi goes on and on forever, it's irrational for us to let our budget woes experience that same fate," said Himes. "The longer we wait to fix the budget, the more ground we lose on our key priorities like education and transportation infrastructure and the more interest we pay to finance the debt."

Himes' graph demonstrates that the spending under review right now in Washington makes up only about 18 percent of the federal budget. Mandatory spending programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security account for nearly 60 percent of federal spending. The remainder goes mostly to defense and interest to finance the debt.

"For all the controversy surrounding the cuts we're discussing now in Congress, we need to remember that we are only looking at a small piece of the budget pie," said Himes.

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