“For those paying income taxes later this month and wondering just what their money goes toward, here is a breakdown of how the U.S. government spends it.
One quarter of all income taxes are consumed by national defense, which represents the largest slice of the tax-money pie. More precisely, 10.3% goes to “ongoing operations;” 7.9% to research, development, weapons and constructions; and 5.6% to salaries and benefits.
Almost another quarter (23.7%) is spent on health care programs, such as Medicare (10.5%) and Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (10.0%).
Among the other big ticket categories are veterans’ benefits (4.5%), military and civilian retirement and disability payments (4.4%), and food and nutrition assistance (3.7%). And—not to be overlooked—interest on the national debt…8.1%.
There are also several categories that get a lot of attention, but don’t really cost that much, relatively speaking. All international affairs spending, including military assistance, maintain embassies and humanitarian aid, makes up just 1% of total federal spending, as does all spending on science and NASA.”
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Just wait til we re-elect the Zero, and we’ll fall into the European “benefits for future” trade 100% (ie., no growth, no military, no population)…
FOUR MORE YEARS!
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On a more serious note, this letter was published in Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal, and offers a great synopsis of the trade-off to which the Obama “Progressives” are now embarking:
Regarding Mark Helprin’s “Obama’s Europa Complex” (op-ed, March 27): A primary feature of welfare-state models is a collective unwillingness to forgo instant gratification for the possibility of a better future. The first and easiest trade is benefits today for bond payments tomorrow. Another relatively painless trade is benefits instead of bombs. European states long ago outsourced their national defense to America, spending less than half per person on the military than does the U.S. An inevitable third trade is benefits in place of babies, a swap that puts demographic and economic growth trends into an eventual tailspin.
Shortchanging national security and charting a course for depopulation enabled Europeans to maintain their lifestyles in the past few decades, but bonds, bombs and babies are tapped out, so benefits now are on the block. According to European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, Europe’s social-welfare model is already gone. Mr. Helprin points out that the model may be gone from Europe, but President Obama is determined to import it to America.
Entitlements have ramped up in the U.S., and the nation’s defense budget is squeezed. Benefits for bombs is a trade that progressives will make in a heartbeat, and many conservatives are ready to scale back America’s military obligations after a decade of war. American birthrates also are trending toward European levels. Fewer babies, fewer bombs, more debt and higher taxes on the rich can free up enough resources to boost entitlements for a while, before military weakness, an aging population or nervous creditors hit the fan. President Obama just needs seven months and then it doesn’t really matter.
Perry Scott
Winston-Salem, N.C.
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The other half goes to welfare/SS and interest on debt. 🙁