It's Tax Day: Do You Know Where Your Money Is?

Happy April 15h - Tax Day!

Like many Americans, I am concerned with my tax rate, and ultimately how much cash I'll need to pay Uncle Sam this year.

Today, there are supposed to be conservative "Tea Parties" around the country, expressing outrage over the tax policies and stimulus package of the Obama administration. At least, I think that's what they are protesting...

There is a lot of MSM clamor over these protests. I predict they'll get some news for a day or two and then any energy around them will simply dissipate.

These protests do push us to pay attention to where our tax dollars go. Personally, I am pleased with the stimulus funds, since they are used for a variety of important projects throughout the country in an attempt to create and save jobs.

While the media goes gaga over the tea parties' anger over TARP, little noise is made over the percentage of our taxes that go for military spending. Is there anyone out there that lets us know how much of our money goes for military expenditures?

Yes. Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), a Quaker lobby in Washington, D.C., has determined that this year 43% of our monies pay for war.

How do they determine this figure, which differs from the 21% outlined by the president?

FCNL is transparent in explaining their math. They state: "When the president’s proposal says that only 21% of the budget goes to the military, it includes Social Security and Medicare in his definition of the budget. Because this analysis starts with a bigger pie (called the “unified budget”), the military appears as a relatively smaller slice, and social spending looks larger."

FCNL, on the other hand, uses the federal funds budget. "This is the overall budget, including discretionary, entitlement, and mandatory spending, supported by general revenues, including income taxes and estate and gift taxes. Because the FCNL analysis aims to illustrate how our income dollars are spent, it does not include trust funds, such as Social Security and Medicare, which have their own dedicated revenues."

They discuss which parts of the budget they apply to their math: "When FCNL talks about military spending, we talk about two slices – current military spending and spending due to past wars and military activity."

Overall, these are the items that are included in FCNL's calculations:

• all spending for the Department of Defense (DOD).
• the “050 function,” a categorizing number that OMB uses to identify defense-related spending, regardless of the agency that spends the funds. This category includes funding in many “independent agencies” as well some parts of the Department of Homeland Security, parts of the Coast Guard, and other bits and pieces sprinkled through the budget.
• responsibility for the Defense Department retirees as a military expense, although it is not listed as such by OMB.
• portions of the foreign aid budget that are, in fact, military programs. These include the foreign military assistance accounts and international military training.
  

One thing is for sure. Add it all up, and we're all paying through the nose for that 43% - which directly and indirectly ties us to the military-industrial complex.

Hmmm... maybe that's something we should actually be protesting.