Hi Lisa: Permit me to share something i posted to Bill Astore’s Bracing Views last week regarding where Americans’ Tax Dollars go... :
In his 11 Apr 24 DeMOCKracy.ink piece “Average US Taxpayer Paid Out More For War & Militarism Than Medicare In 2023,” Mark Taylor cites a COMMON DREAMS article by Jake Johnson that states:
“The average U.S. taxpayer was forced to contribute more to militarized programs than to Medicare and Medicaid combined in 2023, according to a new analysis released Tuesday by the National Priorities Project.
“Published ahead of Tax Day, the analysis sheds light on the extent to which the federal income tax dollars of ordinary Americans are fueling "militarism and its support systems" such as the Pentagon, which currently accounts for roughly half of the federal government's total discretionary budget.
"’Overall, in 2023, THE AVERAGE TAXPAYER CONTRIBUTED $5,109 FOR MILITARISM AND ITS SUPPORT SYSTEMS—including war and the Pentagon, veterans' programs, deportations and border militarization, and federal spending on policing and prisons,’ according to NPP, which is a project of the Institute for Policy Studies.
"By comparison, THE TYPICAL U.S. TAXPAYER CONTRIBUTED $4,308 TO MEDICARE AND MEDICAID, $346 TO K-12 EDUCATION, $516 TO NUTRITION ASSISTANCE FOR LOW-INCOME AMERICANS, AND $58 TO DIPLOMACY-RELATED PROGRAMS.” [Full article at https://mark192.substack.com/p/cartoon-average-us-taxpayer-paid ; EMPHASES added.]
While interesting and perhaps thought-provoking to some folks, there is another, more accurate ~ and disconcerting ~ way to look at, analyze, and understand the whole situation.
For Fiscal Year 2023, the US federal Government had a Budget DEFICIT of just under $1.7 TRILLION [$1,700,000,000].
Which means that the just over 162,000,000 US Taxpayers that year got an average of just under $10,500 in Government “goods, products, and services” for “free,” at no charge to them; a bit more than double what the article states they “paid” for the “national security and defense” of this Nation.
In other words, American Taxpayers didn’t pay a dime for anything related “national security and defense,” and just put it on Uncle Sam’s NATIONAL, SOVEREIGN DEBT Credit Card. That DEBT passed the $34 TRILLION mark on 4 Jan 23; and now stands at $34.66 TRILLION or $266,951 per Taxpayer.
[Note: According to the Congressional Budget Office, unless something changes, that National Sovereign Debt will rise to $40.3 TRILLION by 2028; and, if current Spending and Taxing trends are continued, to as high as $46.7 TRILLION.]
So the Bottom Line is that no Taxpayer is paying for ANY National Security/Defense at the present. And given the Deficits since FY 2000, no Taxpayer has paid a dime for America’s 20-year “Forever War” after 9/11 in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and so forth. Again, it’s all gone on Uncle Sam’s tab.
And given the performance of the American Military in that “Forever War,” the American Peoples got ~ and are still getting ~ exactly what they paid nothing for: Nothing.
But while no Taxpayer today is actually paying for any of this now, Future Taxpayers will definitely have to pay for it when Sam’s Credit Limit is reached, and he has to start paying down his DEBT or else… .
And that explains exactly Why there has been no Anti-War Movement in the Nation since 9/11: Americans are not paying anything for it in Treasure with Taxes; and the only Americans paying for it in Blood are those folks in that “All-Volunteer Military” America has had since the end of the Draft after Vietnam.
So with neither Blood nor Treasure in play and at risk, is it any surprise that there is no Anti-War Movement in America? Despite 22 and a half years of Perpetual War?
ps: And then there’s America’s UNFUNDED LIABILITES ~ Social Security, Medicare Parts A, B, and D, Federal Debt held by the Public [and Interest], and Government Employee and Veterans Benefits ~ which stands today at $214.6 TRILLION [which works out to $637,415 per Citizen].
You make me proud to have been a Maineiac!
Hi Lisa: Permit me to share something i posted to Bill Astore’s Bracing Views last week regarding where Americans’ Tax Dollars go... :
In his 11 Apr 24 DeMOCKracy.ink piece “Average US Taxpayer Paid Out More For War & Militarism Than Medicare In 2023,” Mark Taylor cites a COMMON DREAMS article by Jake Johnson that states:
“The average U.S. taxpayer was forced to contribute more to militarized programs than to Medicare and Medicaid combined in 2023, according to a new analysis released Tuesday by the National Priorities Project.
“Published ahead of Tax Day, the analysis sheds light on the extent to which the federal income tax dollars of ordinary Americans are fueling "militarism and its support systems" such as the Pentagon, which currently accounts for roughly half of the federal government's total discretionary budget.
"’Overall, in 2023, THE AVERAGE TAXPAYER CONTRIBUTED $5,109 FOR MILITARISM AND ITS SUPPORT SYSTEMS—including war and the Pentagon, veterans' programs, deportations and border militarization, and federal spending on policing and prisons,’ according to NPP, which is a project of the Institute for Policy Studies.
"By comparison, THE TYPICAL U.S. TAXPAYER CONTRIBUTED $4,308 TO MEDICARE AND MEDICAID, $346 TO K-12 EDUCATION, $516 TO NUTRITION ASSISTANCE FOR LOW-INCOME AMERICANS, AND $58 TO DIPLOMACY-RELATED PROGRAMS.” [Full article at https://mark192.substack.com/p/cartoon-average-us-taxpayer-paid ; EMPHASES added.]
While interesting and perhaps thought-provoking to some folks, there is another, more accurate ~ and disconcerting ~ way to look at, analyze, and understand the whole situation.
For Fiscal Year 2023, the US federal Government had a Budget DEFICIT of just under $1.7 TRILLION [$1,700,000,000].
Which means that the just over 162,000,000 US Taxpayers that year got an average of just under $10,500 in Government “goods, products, and services” for “free,” at no charge to them; a bit more than double what the article states they “paid” for the “national security and defense” of this Nation.
In other words, American Taxpayers didn’t pay a dime for anything related “national security and defense,” and just put it on Uncle Sam’s NATIONAL, SOVEREIGN DEBT Credit Card. That DEBT passed the $34 TRILLION mark on 4 Jan 23; and now stands at $34.66 TRILLION or $266,951 per Taxpayer.
[Note: According to the Congressional Budget Office, unless something changes, that National Sovereign Debt will rise to $40.3 TRILLION by 2028; and, if current Spending and Taxing trends are continued, to as high as $46.7 TRILLION.]
So the Bottom Line is that no Taxpayer is paying for ANY National Security/Defense at the present. And given the Deficits since FY 2000, no Taxpayer has paid a dime for America’s 20-year “Forever War” after 9/11 in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and so forth. Again, it’s all gone on Uncle Sam’s tab.
And given the performance of the American Military in that “Forever War,” the American Peoples got ~ and are still getting ~ exactly what they paid nothing for: Nothing.
But while no Taxpayer today is actually paying for any of this now, Future Taxpayers will definitely have to pay for it when Sam’s Credit Limit is reached, and he has to start paying down his DEBT or else… .
And that explains exactly Why there has been no Anti-War Movement in the Nation since 9/11: Americans are not paying anything for it in Treasure with Taxes; and the only Americans paying for it in Blood are those folks in that “All-Volunteer Military” America has had since the end of the Draft after Vietnam.
So with neither Blood nor Treasure in play and at risk, is it any surprise that there is no Anti-War Movement in America? Despite 22 and a half years of Perpetual War?
ps: And then there’s America’s UNFUNDED LIABILITES ~ Social Security, Medicare Parts A, B, and D, Federal Debt held by the Public [and Interest], and Government Employee and Veterans Benefits ~ which stands today at $214.6 TRILLION [which works out to $637,415 per Citizen].
See https://www.usdebtclock.org/ for details.