Now that you've paid your taxes ...

Happy Tax Day


You've paid your taxes, now what's in it for you? What do you get from the government (besides staying on the good side of the Internal Revenue Service)?

Via Heritage's Brian Riedl http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20070415-100128-4378r.htm , here's how your tax bill breaks down:

The federal government collects $21,992 in taxes per household and spends $24,106, leaving a per-household deficit of $2,114. (You might think of that last figure as taxes you haven't paid yet but someday will-or at least somebody will, maybe your kids.)



Per household, the government spends:

*       $8,301 for Social Security and Medicare,
*       $4,951 for defense,
*       $3,550 for antipoverty programs,
*       $2,071 for interest on the federal debt,
*       $907 for federal employee retirement benefits,
*       $664 for health research and regulation, including the Food and Drug Administration,
*       $627 for veterans' benefits,
*       $584 for education,
*       $418 for highways and mass transit,
*       $392 for administration of justice,
*       $305 for natural resources and environmental protection,
*       $304 for foreign aid, contributions to international organizations like the United Nations, and for maintaining U.S. embassies abroad,
*       $299 for unemployment benefits,
*       $282 for community and regional development, which includes the Federal Emergency Management Agency,
*       and $451 for all other federal programs, including farm subsidies, social services, space exploration, air transportation and energy.

Posted on 04/17/07 10:56 AM http://www.insideronline.org/blogarchive.cfm?month=4&year=2007#000B610D-CE46-40A5-A584E39468C29BE0 by Alex Adrianson | Blog Archive http://www.insideronline.org/#viewArchives#viewArchives