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Drawing on federal budget spending, sycamore maple seeds, particle physics tracks, on paper
Do You Think You Can Tell #79
Graphite, colored pencil, archival pigmented ink on paper
8-5/8 x 5-7/8 inches
2014

The drawing is dominated by a single graph of changes in federal budget spending since 1963. There are four broad categories, from bottom to top: mandatory expenditures (Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid, et al.); interest; defense; and non-defense discretionary expenses. Mandatory expenditures have risen to 60% of the budget as of 2014. Sycamore maple seeds waft through, a symbol of the cycle of life -- the same inexorable cycle helping to drive the rise in healthcare costs and retirement expenses. Particle physics tracks swell in the background.