Where Does Your Tax $$ Go?

April 10, 2005
Parade

This year, the federal government will spend more than $2.5 trillion on a variety of programs, from national defense to social aid. In this week’s PARADE, investigative reporter David Wallechinsky looks inside the federal budget and details how Congress actually spends our tax dollars. Following are several additional federal programs Americans help pay for. Also, Wallechinsky answers some frequently asked questions about the deficit and how the public can influence government spending.


Contact Your Elected Officials

Tell Congress how you feel about the way your tax money is spent. Write your representative and your senators. Contact them by clicking on the links below:

Find your representative here
Find your senators here

Questions for David Wallechinsky

WHY DON’T POLITICIANS CARE ABOUT THE GROWING NATIONAL DEBT?
AnswerIt may seem irresponsible of politicians to build such an enormous debt for future generations to deal with, but from the politician’s point of view, it makes sense. Voters like a candidate who cuts taxes without cutting government programs. The only way to do that is to borrow more and more and count on the voters to not care.

WHY IS IT SO DIFFICULT TO CONTROL GOVERNMENT SPENDING?
AnswerConsidering that the government spends trillions of dollars of our money each year, it is not surprising that every year politicians and others call for the elimination of various programs. However, history shows that although programs may experience cutbacks in funding, they are almost never completely eliminated. For every program, there is a constituency that tries to keep it alive. In addition, there is an unwritten rule that the larger the program, the more prone it is to waste and corruption. The Government Accountability Office (GAO), which is in charge of monitoring how the government spends its money, has an annual budget of only $464 million.

WHAT CAN WE DO?
AnswerThe greater the number of Americans who educate themselves about how our money is spent, the more likely we are to keep our government representatives from throwing our money away. Voting is a good start, and it is important to write to our Congressional representatives so they realize that we are paying attention. It is also useful to contact groups that support programs you support. Members of Congress are more likely to respond to suggestions and complaints they receive from organized groups than from individuals.

Taxpayer-Funded Programs

SOME BILLION-DOLLAR PROGRAMS

• Highway construction and maintenance: $34.4 billion
• National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases: $4.4 billion
• Army Corps of Engineers water projects: $4.8 billion
Project BioShield• Indian Health Service (for more than 1.6 million American Indians and Alaska Natives): $3 billion
• Bureau of Indian Affairs: $2.3 billion
• Project BioShield, including medical countermeasures and air monitoring for biological agents: $2.5 billion
• Bioterrorism Preparedness Programs: $1.1 billion
• Airport grants: $3.5 billion
• Food for Peace Program: $1.2 billion. Since its founding in 1954, this program has fed Joint Strike Fighterpeople in 150 countries.

A SAMPLING OF MILITARY PROGRAMS

• Joint Strike Fighter: $4.5 billion
• F/A-22 Raptor Air Force fighters: $4.2 billion
• F/A-18 Hornet carrier-based fighters: $3.1 billion
• Improvements to the Machine Gun Range at Camp Gruber Training Center near Muskogee, Okla.: $3.2 million
• Build a kennel for mine-detection dogs at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri: $3.7 million
• Academic Center for Aging Aircraft at Texas A&M University: $4.2 million
• Selective Service: $26 million (draft boards)

ANIMALS

• Migratory Bird Conservation Account: $43 million
• Brown Tree Snake Control on Guam (accidentally introduced during World Wild Horse and Burro ManagementWar II): More than $2 million
• Wild Horse and Burro Management: $20.1 million
• Endangered Species Program (Fish and Wildlife Service): $143 million

A PAIR OF AWARDS

• NASANASA’s Centennial Challenges program provides awards for novel solutions to solar system exploration: $10 million
• Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching: $1.1 million in award money

Federal Bureau of PrisonsSOLUTIONS TO A PROBLEM

• Federal Bureau of Prisons: $4.7 billion
• Youth employment and training programs: $2.6 billion
• National Institute of Mental Health: $1.4 billion

A SAMPLING OF MISCELLANEOUS PROGRAMS

• Hunter Education and Safety Grant Program: $8 million
Peace Corps• Grants to allow local police departments to buy bulletproof vests: $25 million
• Promote reconciliation between the Greek and Turkish communities on Cyprus: $13.5 million
• Reduce noise made by aircraft: $72 million
• International Law Enforcement Academy in Botswana: $2 million
• Smithsonian Institution: $628 million
• Peace Corps: $317 million
• Project Prometheus (to develop nuclear-powered rocket technologies): $400 million

Project Prometheus is an example of how the government sometimes deals with controversial programs. Originally called the Nuclear Space Initiative, the program sparked safety concerns because of the danger of radioactive debris falling to Earth. So the project was given a new name without the word “nuclear.”


THIS YEAR’S MOST UNUSUAL EXPENSE

• The Frankfort YMCA in Franklin County, Ky., was awarded $250,000 to improve facilities. The funding was originally approved for 2004, but because of a typing error the money went instead to the town of Franklin in Kentucky’s Simpson County, which is using the unexpected windfall to build a new YMCA.
  

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