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Where your income tax money really goes: Fiscal year 2005

Current Military, $536 Billion:

Military Personnel $109B, Operation and Maintenance $164B, Procurement $67B, Research and Development $66B, Construction $6B, Family Housing $4B, Retired Pay $44B, Dept of Energy Nuclear Weapons $17B, 50% of NASA $8B, "International Security" $8B, 50% of "Homeland Security" $16B, Ex. Off. Pres. $10B, misc. $6B

Iraq & Afghan Wars, $50 Billion:

Though the cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars is not included in the President's budget, it is included here because the Administration will request supplemental funding after the Nov. 2004 election.

Past Military, $349 Billion:

Veterans' Benefits $69B, Interest on National Debt (80% estimated to be created by military spending) $280B

Human Resources, $633 Billion:

Education, Health/Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Food/Nutrition programs, Labor Department, Social Security Administration

General Government, $244 Billion:

Legislative, Justice Dept., State Dept., International Affairs, Treasury, Gov't. Personnel, 20% interest on national debt, 50% of NASA, 25% of "Homeland Security"

Physical Resources, $114 Billion:

Agriculture, Commerce, Energy, Interior Dept., Transportation, Environmental Protection, Army Corps Engineers, NSF, FCC, 25% of "Homeland Security"

HOW THESE FIGURES WERE DETERMINED

The War Resisters League creates this chart each year after the President releases a proposed budget. The figures here are from a line-by-line analysis of projected figures in the "Analytical Perspectives" book of the Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2005. The percentages are federal funds, which do not include trust funds such as Social Security that are raised and spent separately from income taxes. What you pay (or don't pay) by April 15, 2004, goes only to the federal funds portion of the budget.

The government practice of combining trust and federal funds (the so-called "Unified Budget") began in the 1960s during the Vietnam War. The government presentation makes the human needs portion of the budget seem larger and the military portion smaller.

"Current military" spending adds together money allocated for the Dept. of Defense ($431 billion) plus the military portion from other parts of the budget. Spending on nuclear weapons (without their delivery systems) amounts to about 1% of the total budget. "Past military" represents veterans' benefits plus 80% of the interest on the debt. Analysts differ on how much of the debt stems from the military; other groups estimate 50% to 60%. We use 80% because we believe if there had been no military spending most (if not all) of the national debt would have been eliminated. The government willingly borrows for war, but finds nothing extra for crises in human needs.

We have split the money in the new Homeland Security Department between Current Military, General Government, and Physical Resources. The military portion includes the Coast Guard (which WRL has always included in military), a small amount in Homeland Security that is coded military in the Federal Budget, and half of "Border and Transportation Security"; the other half we have placed according to the coding in General Government. The category "Emergency Preparedness and Response" (the work of the former FEMA) is within Physical Resources. While some may see legitimate measures within this budget to prevent terrorist attacks, we also believe that the mission of this department involves a militarization of U.S. society and a system of widespread arrests designed to enhance fear and mistrust and nibble away at civil liberties.

We also believe that if Homeland Security represents "defense" of the U.S., then it is all the more clear that the current Department of Defense should be returned to its original name, "War Department."

The information above was put together by the War Resisters League for a leaflet designed to be handed out during "tax season." Copies of a two-color version of the leaflet are available for 10¢ each (1-199), 7¢ each (200 or more), 6¢ each (500+) plus 20% postage. Write the War Resisters League, 339 Lafayette St., NY, NY 10012, or go to their webpage, www.warresisters.org, where you can order leaflets or download a PDF in English or in Spanish to make your own.

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