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TAX DAY!
I like the first sentence of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities annual "Where Do Our Federal Tax Dollars Go?" report. "The federal government collects taxes in order to finance various public services." That's it. That's what taxes are. They're not "money the government takes from you," but money the government collects in order to fund the services and social priorities that we, as a people, have chosen and preserved through our political system. You might not like paying taxes. But that's not the government's fault. It's your neighbors fault. The government is just doing what your neighbors have told it to do.
CBPP, meanwhile, has a nice graphic clarifying how the government spends that money:
Over on Twitter, there've been a lot of tax-related jokes at the Teabaggers' expense. LizKulic says, "I pay taxes to fund medical research so fewer Americans die from potentially curable diseases." Matt Yglesias snarks, "My taxes pay for pirate-killing snipers." I noted the smoothly paved roads I biked over this morning. But at the end of the day, the graphic above shows what our taxes pay for: National defense, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and so on. if you want to pay less in taxes than you have to want to receive less in those things and convince your fellow voters to demand the same. Taxes aren't a mystery and they're not a punishment. They're the price we pay for the things we've directed our government to buy.
COMMENTS (14)
stupid neighbors!
Posted by: Cougarhutch | April 15, 2009 10:43 AM
More specifically, it's doing what the representatives your neighbors elected tell it to do. Which, unfortunately, is not always the same thing.
The gist of your post is exactly right though--most government spending is in fact on things most people would deem "useful"--you know, like providing for the common defence and promoting the general welfare :-).
Awesome. This should be progressives' battle cry :-).
Posted by: anonymous | April 15, 2009 11:01 AM
Got your mouth, tongue and throat muscles toned up for Teabagging Day?
Oh, you mean Faux News didn't mean THAT kind of teabagging?
Anyway, I LOVE paying taxes. This year I converted a (pre-tax) regular IRA into a (post-tax) Roth IRA. Big tax hit!
But no more taxation of any capital gains/dividends/interest in the future for me! (If there is anything that gains in the financial world in the next 5-10 years.)
Comment of the pie chart: Just wait until the interest on the debt is double the percentage of what it is today. Which segment decreases to pay for it? -the total can't exceed 100%, right?
Posted by: JimPortlandOR | April 15, 2009 11:01 AM
It is probably important to note the 8% "Interest on Debt" part. That means that if we simply paid for what we buy when we buy it instead of always taking out a loan, we could either have 8% lower federal taxes or 8% more dollars to spend on programs. We'd also have zero deficit, and so Republicans would have one less cherry bomb to throw at us.
Posted by: anonymous | April 15, 2009 11:04 AM
Well, golly, I never realized any of this! Thanks!
Posted by: ostap | April 15, 2009 11:06 AM
This chart is a damned lie. John McCain told me that at least half the budget was devoted to research into Mormon Crickets.
Posted by: mkd | April 15, 2009 11:14 AM
Years ago Dave Barry once remarked that after watching an episode of "The X-files", he was very, very glad his tax dollars were being used by Mulder and Scully to combat the awesome menace of Flukeman(I agree with that one, actually.)
Otoh, it's nice to know there is still a substantial bit of flab in the national budget that can be drawn on in an absolute emergency. I speak, of course, of military spending. Cut it in half and you still have the bestest fighting force ever. And the freed-up monies can go to more useful projects - anything from paying down the national debt to repair of infrastructure.
Posted by: ScentOfViolets | April 15, 2009 11:27 AM
Everybody knows it all really goes for welfare and earmarks.
Posted by: TL | April 15, 2009 12:04 PM
To focus on the 'defense' and the SS slices of that pretty pie, both at a convenient 21% --
One is not like t'other, is it --?
In that the Pentagon sector goes to the the toys for the boys and spy-guys and fun game stuff like that and is new expenditure~
And that the SS slice goes to replenish $$ borrowed from that purported FICA 'lockbox' which were slicked out to fund
a project or the scam of the current day or administration?
Innit? Simplistically wondering?
Posted by: has_te | April 15, 2009 1:30 PM
Here's a neat article about another way that taxes can help - enrolling people into public programs -
Posted by: Anonymous | April 15, 2009 2:22 PM
Nice graphic. With a quick glance it gives you a short summary of where our money goes and what our priorities are. Which makes me wonder, do you have charts like this for other countries? Seems like it'd be an interesting exercise to see how our tax priorities compare to such "socialist" states as France, England, Germany, etc.
Posted by: sjkral | April 15, 2009 3:02 PM
sjkral: International comparisons would be tricky, because a lot of (for example) education spending happens at state or local level in the US, but at national level in other countries. The pie chart is federal only.
Posted by: ajay | April 16, 2009 5:59 AM
Harry Reid embarrasses himself and everyone else as he argues that taxes are voluntary.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7mRSI8yWwg
Posted by: El Viajero | April 16, 2009 9:09 AM
I really believe that these social networks will have a huge impact on what we can accomplish as groups, it'll help us be very organized and communicate.
Posted by: tiffanys | November 9, 2009 3:28 AM