Where Does Your Money Go?

Too often people fail to inform themselves on where their tax dollars go once they are sent to the government.  What types of programs are funded by your hard-earned money?  What people do those programs help?  How much money goes to which areas over others?

In fiscal year 2012, the federal government spent $3.5 trillion.  Of that $3.5 trillion, $1.1 trillion was borrowed money; $1.1 trillion was money that future generations will have to repay.  One third of the budget was allocated for programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.  Medicaid especially is suspected of being ripe with fraud and wasting taxpayer dollars.  Similar to SNAP, there are federal "safety net" programs in place that are designed to help families in need.  These programs are abused and those programs, which accounted for 12% of the budget in fiscal year 2012, are relatively useless.

Defense and national security issues do consume a large portion of the budget; however, while not perfect, these programs are nowhere near as fraud-laden as social programs.  We must use this as an opportunity to cut these programs down to size.  Only make them available for those who truly need them.

Learning where your tax dollars go is important for every American.  Unless you're aware of what it is being spent on, you have no way to keep your government accountable for its actions.  If you can't keep it accountable, it will continue to accumulate the massive $16 trillion debt we currently have, and that continues to rise by the minute.


Source:  http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=1258

Government Waste

Government spending is constantly increasing while it appears attention to it is constantly decreasing.  With the national debt soaring past $16.4 trillion, many view this as a tragic failure that leaves the next generation with an enormous debt burden.  Waste and abuse of taxpayer dollars is perhaps the most poignant example of areas that can afford to be cut.  Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma last year detailed just how wasteful government spending truly is.

The waste report, found here, outlines just how wasteful so much of our spending is.  One example is this:  Approximately $80 billion is allotted annually for SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), a food stamp program designed to help families who might otherwise go to bed hungry.  After close investigation, it was found that part of the funds meant to purchase healthy foods for these families actually went toward purchasing Starbucks, Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken, soap operas and other fast food and sugary drinks.  This is not what the money is meant for, yet it is spent wastefully.

Other such wastes are also prevalent-- whether it be spending $27 million to teach Moroccans how to make pottery (pottery that they've been making on their own for centuries) or spending $947,000 on developing cuisine suitable for consumption on Mars, there are too many projects that are unnecessary.

The national debt will ultimately be left to today's kids-- the carefree toddlers who seem so innocent will be saddled with a debt they can never repay.  It is crucial that we cut down on the waste, fraud and abuse occurring within the government and its spending habits.


Source:  http://www.coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=3b872d11-b6b5-4f72-9a0f-f95c79c99b6f&ContentType_id=d741b7a7-7863-4223-9904-8cb9378aa03a