Not sure how I missed this, but back in February the NYT provided a fantastic interactive graphic (screen shot below) showing how the proposed FY2011 Federal Budget shakes out. The rectangles in the chart show the relative size of spending for that particular category, the color indicates a percentage change from the previous year’s budget, and you can click on a smaller section to zoom in for details.

The Times continues to provide truly impressive data visualization, and this chart packs a huge amount of information into a relatively simple-to-grasp format.

Bonus Exercise 1:  Select the “Hide Mandatory Spending” option from the blue buttons at the top of the graphic.  This eliminates the entitlement programs, debt service, and the like, and leaves the “discretionary” portion of the budget visible.  There is a shocking amount of white space when you select that option. 

Bonus Exercise 2:  Let’s say you were interested in finding Small & Minority Business Assistance on this chart…  You would have to use the zoom functions, and look carefully…waaaaay over here: