Saturday, November 12, 2011

Ever wonder where our nations money comes from and how it gets spent?

Hopefully this list will line up so you can see it properly if not take a trip to wiki and look up federal budget.

Estimated receipts for fiscal year 2012 are $2.627 trillion.
$1.141 trillion - Individual income tax
$329 billion - Corporate income tax
$925 billion - Social Security and other payroll tax
$103 billion - Excise tax
$30.0 billion - Customs duties
$14.0 billion - Estate and gift taxes
$66.0 billion - Deposits of earnings and Federal Reserve System
$20.0 billion - Other miscellaneous receipts
[edit]Total spending
Further information: Government spending
The President's budget for 2012 totals $3.729 trillion. Percentages in parentheses indicate percentage change compared to 2011. This budget request is broken down by the following expenditures:
Mandatory spending: $2.382 trillion (-3.2%)
$761 billion (+2.6%) - Social Security
$485 billion (-0.6%) - Medicare
$269 billion (-2.5%) - Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)
$612 billion (-14.0%) - Unemployment/Welfare/Other mandatory spending
$242 billion (+17.1%) - Interest on National Debt
$13.0 billion (-54.0%) - Troubled Asset Relief Program
Discretionary spending: $1.344 trillion (-3.1%)
$553.0 billion (+0.7%) - Department of Defense
$118.0 billion (-26.0%) - Overseas Contingency Operations
$79.9 billion (-1.8%) - Department of Health and Human Services
$77.4 billion (+6.2%) - Department of Education
$58.8 billion (+3.1%) - Department of Veterans Affairs
$49.8 billion (+0.5%) - Department of Housing and Urban Development
$50.1 billion (-0.9%) - Department of State and Other International Programs
$43.2 billion (-0.9%) - Department of Homeland Security
$29.6 billion (+4.2%) - Department of Energy
$28.2 billion (-7.2%) - Department of Justice
$23.8 billion (-7.1%) - Department of Agriculture
$18.2 billion (-6.7%) - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
$13.4 billion (-4.1%) - Department of Transportation
$14.0 billion (+0.8%) - Department of the Treasury
$12.1 billion (+0.3%) - Department of the Interior
$12.8 billion (-8.3%) - Department of Labor
$8.8 billion (-2.3%) - Department of Commerce
$4.6 billion (-6.2%) - Army Corps of Engineers
$9.0 billion (-10.3%) - Environmental Protection Agency
$7.8 billion (+4.6%) - National Science Foundation
$1.0 billion (-1.0%) - Small Business Administration
$1.3 billion (-11.1%) - Corporation for National and Community Service
$6.0 billion (+200%) - Disaster costs
$44.9 billion (-3.9%) - Other On-budget Discretionary Spending
The Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan are not included in the Department of Defense regular budget, but are included in Overseas Contingency Operations.

But for the average person there are a bunch of things not considered here. If you were to look at this from a purely Washington D.C perspective all might seem well and good but for those of us who have to live in the real world it's a different story. One may get an increase in Social Security benefits while the price of food, gas and medication and co-pays go up. And the increases have not been in the single digits either. Also not considered are the effects on already strapped state budgets. The feds may increase an aspect of the budget while the state has no choice but to make cuts. We've already seen that with children's' health care eliminated and homeless shelters closing. And just how is it that education can see an increase in its' budget while colleges and universities are increasing their tuitions and limiting enrollment? Most college grads I've spoken to could kick themselves for being saddled with such a high debt starting out life. A debt they know they'll never be able to pay back even with the best intentions.

I have a few ideas that would change things in short order but I know they would never make it to the senate floor. Start with a one quarter percent tax on any and all stock and bond transactions. Bring corporate taxes in line with what the rest of us working stiffs pay. Heavily tax lobbyists for the privilege or better yet ban them all together. They can plead their position but no money can change hands.

And lastly I leave you with this thought post veterans day:

"No corporations are buried at Arlington Cemetery"

9 comments:

S.W. Anderson said...

Well done. Make that securities transaction fee 0.5 percent, with an exception: no fee if someone sells off his holdings to pay for a catastrophic illness.

Place a job-destruction fee on companies with 30 or more employees that move significant operations outside the country. The fee would be sliding scale, based on capitalization or gross revenue.

Do not allow taxes imposed on business operations by foreign countries to be deducted from taxes owed to Uncle Sam.

Create substantial penalties for companies and individuals that create corporate headquarters in mailboxes or rented rooms in foreign tax havens. Investigate thoroughly, prosecute vigorously, collect with gusto, rinse and repeat.

License CEO's and the top tiers of executives and trustees of major corporations. Any found to be acting with reckless disregard for the economic security of third parties has their license suspended or revoked, meaning they can't hold a position of executive responsibility and authority, or as a consultant, ever again.

Whole new ballgame.

BBC said...

I'm getting a raise this year, but it'll only be about 30 bucks a month. Oh well, I don't give a shit.

Mystery Radiation Detected 'Across Europe'.

Hum, shit happened, yes?

BBC said...

Things may heat up when the police try to move the occupy folks in Portland, rumor is that they are making makeshift weapons.

What the hell? Don't they know about guns?

Jerry Critter said...

It is obvious where to cut discretionary spending. Start with the biggest spenders -- Defense Department and Overseas Contingency. These two things account for about half of the total discretionary spending.

Murr Brewster said...

Oddly enough, I didn't see any of these suggestions coming out of the S. Carolina Republican debate tonight. Perhaps you could give them a jingle.

Murr Brewster said...

Oh that's right--they already have plenty of jingle.

Randal Graves said...

Forgot all about SSgt Wal Mart. Typical.

Demeur said...

Hello to Portland. While the clown road show continues people take to the streets and those protesting know what needs to be done. Sad is it not?

S.W. Anderson said...

Maybe it's time for an Occupy the Republican Candidates Debate.

Heh.