American tax payers send an “astronomical amount” of money to the IRS every year and if Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers get their way, even more money will be allocated to the U.S. military in the coming year.
Based on an analysis that was published by National Priorities in March, an estimated 23.8 cents of every dollar in paid taxes goes to the Pentagon for military spending.
“The average taxpayer contributed $3,456 to the military in 2017,” Lindsay Koshgarian from National Priorities, said, “compared to $80 that went to welfare programs and just $39 to the Environmental Protection Agency.”
She noted that it’s important for Americans to realize that their taxes are directly funding the U.S.-led endless war and attacks overseas.
“It’s devastating to know who paid for it: we did,” Koshgarian said
While Republicans pushed through a spending bill that would fund the Pentagon $700 billion, Donald Trump’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2019 allocates 61 percent of the $1.19 trillion to the U.S. military, while health care, housing and community and education will only receive 5 percent each.
Aside from the estimated 23.8 cents of every dollar that goes to the U.S. military, 11 cents goes toward military contractors, according to National Priorities. That includes 1.7 cents going to the Lockheed Martin, the Pentagon’s biggest contractor and maker of the F-35 jet fighter.
“A 10 percent cut in spending on military contractors would provide enough money to hire 395,000 elementary school teachers or provide health insurance for 13 million children,” Koshgarian said.
As the “American war machine” gets tanked up, healthcare, food stamps, education, and other public programs continue to get slashed to help fund the U.S. military under the Trump administration.
“Congress appropriates more for U.S. military spending than the next eight countries combined, but year after year refuses to adequately invest in access to quality education and healthcare for millions of Americans, infrastructure spending, and alternative energy,” Paul Kawika Martin, senior director for policy and political affairs at Peace Action, said in a statement.
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