A Tax Payers Itemised Receipt

[mrjarrell]

NPR has a link to a .pdf of a new study about where your tax dollars are going. Entitlements eat up a large part with the military coming in a close second.

Thanks For Paying Taxes. Here's A Receipt. : Planet Money : NPR

 

[88GT]

Interesting, the first 3 make up nearly 40% alone. That didn't include interest on the debt. And it makes the libs complaining about the cost of the war seem a but superfluous.

 

[mrjarrell]

We should be complaining about all of them, war included.

 

[CVMA544]

I won't complain about

Veterans benefits and military retirements, but some of the others need to go.

 

[Fletch]

We should care for our veterans, but we should stop making new ones.

 

[CVMA544]

Thats is a novel idea since

in just my immediate family we have a combined total of 9 years in Iraq.

 

[miguel]

I always wanted a tax form that let me select where my tax dollars would be spent. Kinda like a 401k contribution form.

Something like, "I want 85% to the military, 10% for the border patrol and 5% to NASA." Zero for dead beats and moochers.

 

[Leadeye]

I think the chart shold be revised to include all taxes and all expentitures. People pay a lot of taxes other than direct income and FICA, and the government spends a lot more than it takes in.

 

[88GT]

We should be complaining about all of them, war included.

While I disagree with the blanket statement that we should be complaining about all of them and the implication that we shouldn't be paying taxes at all. I have to point out that this wasn't about which ones were good or bad, but the relative chunk of the total each represented. Since libs like to oppose the war based on its cost, it only makes sense that they should be lobbying harder to end the first three entitlement programs for the same reason. Just illustrating their hypocrisy, nothing more, nothing less.

We should care for our veterans, but we should stop making new ones.

We shouldn't have a military?

 

[Lobb40118]

I always wanted a tax form that let me select where my tax dollars would be spent. Kinda like a 401k contribution form.

Something like, "I want 85% to the military, 10% for the border patrol and 5% to NASA." Zero for dead beats and moochers.

I would pick 100% return to me. I could care less about bloated military contracts or the ridiculous concept of putting a wall around the country or government space programs. The free market can handle space and the borders. The military should go back to being on defense i.e department of...

 

[excursion12]

I would pick 100% return to me. I could care less about bloated military contracts or the ridiculous concept of putting a wall around the country or government space programs. The free market can handle space and the borders. The military should go back to being on defense i.e department of...

If it all went back to you, the millitary would go away....
You can't have defense at all with your plan.
Better stock up on ammo!

 

[printcraft]

The only way taxes will go down is if people actually know what they are paying and get those responsible out of office.
Most people don't realize how much of a burden taxes actually are.
Not the sales tax but payroll taxes.
If their employer no longer withheld the government "cut" of the employees
paycheck and they employee had to send a check to the government every
week instead to pay their tax bill you would see a massive
F. U. directed toward these programs and politicians.

 

[chraland51]

The governments, federal, state and local, have been picking my pockets for over 40 years as I have been fortunate enough to be fully employed for all of that time. I have paid into those stinking entitlement programs since the first deductions were taken from my paychecks back in the late 60s. I get my periodic statements from social security and they tell me what i have paid and what my benefits will be if I work till age 66. I plan on working until I am 66 and damn well want to get some of my money back. If I had invested it or had Lyndon Johnson kept his long sticky dirty fingers off of the social security fund, it would be solvent today if our fearless (gutless and spineless) leaders would not have replaced the money with treasury notes (IOUs) and put every drug addict, alcoholic and person with a sore back on the roles as being disabled. I am not a wealthy person and am going to be very pi$$ed off when I finally get my chance at the public trough and they deny me because of some means test or lack of funds while the retirement funds of our elected officials are guaranteed and protected and even have their own built in COLAs

 

[ATOMonkey]

There was never money in the "SS fund". Had there been, it would have been found unconstitutional, as it was found that running an insurance company is beyond the scope of the federal government. All the money goes into a big pot and it all comes out of the big pot (general treasury).

Everything else is accounting gimics.

The SS money was always intended to fund other things such as the WPA, and AAA, and other FDR entitlements and subsidies.

Also, defense is the only thing in that laundry list that is actually authorized by the constitution. So, let's grab the low hanging fruit first, then we can argue what actually constitutes "defense" and what is just surplus military or aggressive military action or anything else that would not be "defense".

Also I'm conflicted on whether or not to provide VA benefits. For those drafted yes, they had no choice. For those who volunteer...they know what they're getting into. It's called service and sacrifice, not a vocation. Just IMO

 

[BigMatt]

My problem is that the top 3 items are 40%, and I am not seeing anything for the money that I am putting in. I am getting something for my contributions to the military, highways, etc...

I am not getting anything for my contributions to SS, Medicare, Medicaid, etc...


We could cut this down to about 10% of the current rate and I wouldn't see a differece in my life.

"You don't realize how much government you won't miss." - Mitch Daniels