Friday, April 15, 2011

Where do your federal tax dollars go?

April 15.

Tax Day, and my in-laws wedding anniversary. (This year it's their 60th!!)

Today I received an email from David Plouffe, Senior Advisor to the President. (Bet you didn't know I had such powerful friends.)

Here it is:


Good afternoon,

Have you ever wondered how much of your own tax dollars actually go to support foreign aid? To support education? Well, now you can find out – and you might be surprised.

In his State of the Union Address, President Obama promised that this year, for the first time, American taxpayers would be able to go online and see exactly how their federal tax dollars are spent.

So today, we’re announcing the first-ever federal taxpayer receipt. Check it out:



Just enter a few pieces of information about your taxes, and the taxpayer receipt will give you a breakdown of how your tax dollars are spent on priorities like education, veteran’s benefits, or health care.

Sincerely,

David Plouffe
Senior Advisor to the President


I decided to give it a try. Plugged in my Social Security tax, Medicare tax and Federal Income tax. Then I calculated how much of my tax is spent on the military, the courts and the police---the only three legitimate areas of government action.

31%

If government was reduced to its proper function of protecting our inalienable individual rights to life, liberty and property, I could pay 60% less tax. More importantly, I would have 60% less my property expropriated by the very institution designed to protect my property.

Something to think about.

Government needn't be so large and our liberty so diminished.

.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

why would you need to plug in your numbers? Is the percentage different for each tax payer?

HaynesBE said...

You plug in the numbers to see how much of your money is going for various things. The percentage is the same for eachtaxpayer. What you personally "contribute" will vary with your taxes.