Defense spending has shrunk significantly
Medicaid, Medicare and other health services are the huge gainers here... Fifty years ago Medicare and Medicaid didn't even exist
Bonus Numbers! Federal spending has grown roughly as fast as the overall economy over the past 50 years. In 1962, federal spending was $707 billion and accounted for 18 percent of U.S. GDP. In 2011, federal spending was $3.1 trillion and accounted for 24 percent of GDP.
Please continue reading at: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/05/14/152671813/50-years-of-government-spending-in-1-graph