Where Your Taxes Go

Tomorrow taxes are due. So it’s fitting to contemplate where your tax money goes.

To make it easier to comprehend, the non-partisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget looked at a representative $100 paid in taxes. Of that, 8 cents goes to national parks, $15 goes for Medicare, $21 goes for defense, $50 goes for Social Security and health care programs like Medicare and Medicaid, etc., etc.

One observer said that the data supports the view that the United States is “a giant insurance company with an army.” See details after the jump.

From Laura Saunders, How $100 of Your Taxes Are Spent: 8 Cents on National Parks and $15 on Medicare | Fox Business, Dow Jones Wire:

With April 18 nearly here, U.S. taxpayers are likely asking themselves: Where exactly are my tax dollars going?

To answer the question, here is a “Taxpayer Receipt” showing how each $100 of taxes was spent, both for 2016 and five years earlier. It was prepared by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), a nonpartisan nonprofit group in Washington that monitors federal spending. The group’s three chairmen are Republican Mitch Daniels, Democrat Leon Panetta and independent Tim Penny.

Looking at the list of expenditures, it is clear why some say the U.S. is a giant insurance company with an army. Half of all spending goes for Social Security benefits and health programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, while another 20% is for defense and military benefits.

[Keep reading. . .]

For the specific breakdown of that $100, go to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget site here.