The Census Bureau released a report that shows how the Feds spent your money in 2006 (this is the latest information available.) For starters, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid took up half of all federal spending. Defense spending totaled $400 billion.

Keep in mind, 2006 was post-Katrina, so Gulf Coast states ranked highest in the amount of money the federal government spent per person in those states. That said, here is the ranking:

Louisiana ($16,263)
Mississippi ($14,516)
Alaska ($13,805)

The states that received the lowest per capita distribution of federal funds were:

Nevada ($5,852)
Utah ($6,162)
Minnesota ($6,175)

Click here to read "Federal Aid to States for Fiscal Year 2006," [PDF], which details how much the Feds sent back to each state.

You might have guessed that defense spending was large ($400 billion), so compare that to:

• $569 billion on direct payments other than retirement and disability, which included hospital insurance ($188 billion), supplemental medical insurance ($161 billion), earned income tax credits ($38 billion), food stamps ($30 billion), unemployment compensation ($28 billion), agricultural assistance ($28 billion), federal employment health and life programs ($21 billion) and housing assistance ($9 billion).

• Among the $143 billion procured by nondefense agencies, the Department of Energy had the largest amount ($22 billion), followed by the Department of Veterans Affairs ($16 billion), Postal Service ($15 billion), Homeland Security ($15 billion), General Services Administration ($12 billion) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration ($11 billion).

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