Where Your Income Tax REALLY Goes

[Jcrowley]

HOW THESE FIGURES WERE DETERMINED

Current military” includes Dept. of Defense ($585 billion), the military portion from other departments ($122 billion), and an unbudgetted estimate of supplemental appropriations ($20 billion). “Past military” represents veterans’ benefits plus 80% of the interest on the debt.*

The Government Deception

The pie chart below is the government view of the budget. This is a distortion of how our income tax dollars are spent because it includes Trust Funds (e.g., Social Security), and the expenses of past military spending are not distinguished from nonmilitary spending. For a more accurate representation of how your Federal income tax dollar is really spent, see the large chart (top).



Source:Washington Post , Feb. 6, 2007,
from Office of Management and Budget

These figures are from an analysis of detailed tables in the “Analytical Perspectives” book of the Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2008. The figures are federal funds, which do not include trust funds — such as Social Security — that are raised and spent separately from income taxes. What you pay (or don’t pay) by April 17, 2007, goes to the federal funds portion of the budget. The government practice of combining trust and federal funds began during the Vietnam War, thus making the human needs portion of the budget seem larger and the military portion smaller.

*Analysts differ on how much of the debt stems from the military; other groups estimate 50% to 60%. We use 80% because we believe if there had been no military spending most (if not all) of the national debt would have been eliminated. For further explanation, please see box at bottom of page.

http://warresisters.org/piechart.htm

[Coexist]

1. so, are you saying the top chart REPLACES the bottom chart?

or just breaks down military spending?

Where is SSI in the top chart?

[booley]

2. If I read the post correctly...

..the things like social Security wouldn't be included in the top chart because the makers of that top chart were pointing out a way they beleive that the government misleads people.

The point was where INCOME taxes go. but social security is paid through pay roll taxes and is a seperate thing. So the top chart only had what income taxes paid for, not what the government pays out all together.

[Coexist]

3. Got it!

[nam78_two]

4. K&R.nt

[Cleita]

5. Social Security and Medicare are not paid for out of the

general fund so the bottom chart is inaccurate to begin with, unless you take in the consideration that the general fund is borrowing from the two trust funds and maybe they are trying to say that they are paying off the loans, but I doubt it.

[Jcrowley]

6. Here's some explanation

There are at least five different factors to consider when analyzing the U.S. budget:

discretionary spending vs. total spending
budget authority vs. outlays
function vs. agency/department
federal funds vs. unified budget
time period
Discretionary Spending. The Center for Defense Information (CDI) has used "discretionary" spending — budget items that Congress is allowed to tinker with — which excludes so-called "mandatory" spending items (such as interest on the national debt and retirement pay). WRL does not make such distinctions and lumps them together.

Past Military Spending. If the government does not have enough money to finance a war (or spending for its hefty military budgets), they borrow through loans, savings bonds, and so forth. This borrowing (done heavily during World War II and the Vietnam War) comes back in later years as "hidden" military spending through interest payments on the national debt.
How much of the debt is considered “military” varies from group. As mentioned above, WRL uses 80% whereas FCNL uses 48%. Consequently, FCNL reports that 41% of the FY2006 budget is military (28% current military and 13% past military). WRL's figures are 51% of the FY2008 budget (31% current — which includes 7% for Iraq & Afghanistan wars — and 20% past).

Outlays vs. Budget Authority. WRL uses "outlays" rather than "budget authority," which is often preferred by the government, news media, and groups such as CDI. Outlays refer to spending done in a particular fiscal year, whereas budget authority refers to new spending authorized over a period of several future years. Consequently, CDI reported $421 billion in FY2005 budget authority for the military and $2,200 billion "over the next five years." While WRL reports outlays of $707 billion, plus an anticipated $20 billion in supplemental spending requests for Iraq and Afghanistan wars, plus $461 billion in past military spending — totaling $1,188 billion — just for FY2008.

Function vs. Agency/Department. Not all military spending is done by the Department of Defense. For example, the Department of Energy is responsible for nuclear weapons. Consequently, calculations of military spending should consider the function of the budget item regardless of the department or agency in charge of it. However, not everyone agrees what constitutes a military function. For example, WRL includes the 66% of Homeland Security (which includes the Coast Guard), and half of NASA in military spending, while other groups do not.

Federal Funds vs. Unified Budget. WRL uses "federal funds" rather than the "unified budget" figures that the government prefers. Federal funds exclude trust fund money (e.g., social security), which is raised separately (e.g., the FICA and Medicare deductions in paychecks) and is specifically ear-marked for particular programs. By combining trust funds with federal funds, the percentage of spending on the military appears smaller, a deceptive practice first used by the government in the late 1960s as the Vietnam War became more and more unpopular.

What period are we talking about? Finally, there is some variation in figures because different fiscal years are used. WRL’s figures (above) are for FY2008 (Oct. 1, 2007 to Sep. 30, 2008) as are the most recent U.S. government figures. FCNL sometimes does their analysis for the most recent completed year or FY2006 (Oct. 1, 2005 to Sep. 30, 2006).

http://warresisters.org/index.html

Excellent leaflets at above link for distribution.

:hi:

[Cleita]

7. Thanks for the information.

I have been looking for such an explanation but didn't know where to start.

Thanks again. :-)

[Jcrowley]

8. kick

[zippy890]

9. wow

thanks for the info

does that top chart say 7% spent on Iraq AND Afghanistan?

:-(

tax dollars down the shithole