The average household in Austin paid $7,107 in 2004 Federal Income Taxes.
Where do your tax dollars go?
Military and defense: $2,130
Health: $1441
Interest on the military debt: $627
Interest on the non-military debt: $695
Income security: $468
Education: $261
Veteran's benefits: $244
Nutrition: $191
Housing: $152
Natural resources: $123
Job training: $28
Other: $747 (5)
The numbers in Texas:
Cost of the Military $17,163,980,048
Cost of Nuclear Weapons $727,312,195
Cost of War in Iraq $11,506,998,749
Defense Contracts $20,820,951,238
Here's what we could have had in Texas instead:
Taxpayers in Texas will pay $16.6 billion for the cost of war in Iraq.
For the same amount of money, the following could have been provided:
3,662,704 People Receiving Health Care or
310,148 Elementary School Teachers or
2,343,817 Head Start Places for Children or
11,048,493 Children Receiving Health Care or
224,863 Affordable Housing Units or
2,373 New Elementary Schools or
3,959,149 Scholarships for University Students or
301,389 Music and Arts Teachers or
408,598 Public Safety Officers or
289,352 Port Container Inspectors (1)
Military spending consumes 26 cents out of every individual income tax dollar. It makes up about 20% of total federal spending and over half of the discretionary budget. The United States is the world's biggest military spender, accounting for over 40% of world military spending, and amounting to more than 30 times what the 'rogue' countries spend (Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, Syria). The Pentagon pays for more helicopters, airplanes and warships than all of these countries combined, and the capabilities of U.S. weaponry are unrivaled in the world.
A recent Congressional Budget Office study predicts the costs of the military will continue to increase well into the future. Current Pentagon plans will bring defense spending to levels higher than at anytime since World War II. Many Americans are willing to pay a high price for the military if they believe it buys them real security. However, highly respected critics argue that the Bush Administration's policy of unilateralism and first strike is actually a 'terror-generator.' They suggest alternatives, including stopping the arms trade and safeguarding nuclear materials, which are far less costly and far more likely to bring greater national security than the current policy. (2)
Some numbers:
5 percent or fewer of the insurgent force in Iraq are foreign 'terrorists.' The vast majority of those fighting to expel our troops are native Iraqis, perhaps 20,000 strong.
Donald Rumsfeld estimated in January 2003 that the Iraq war would only cost us $50 billion. To date, we have spent $194 billion, by September it will be over $200 billion, and if you add the war in Afghanistan and other anti-terrorist activity around the globe, the price jumps to $350 billion.
The reported death toll of American soldiers in Iraq has topped 1,700, and the reported wounded number over 13,000. "More than 90 percent of those deaths occurred after Bush landed on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in May 2003 and declared an end to major combat operations."
This, of course, is not counting the dead who are rushed out of Iraq as they are dying in order to keep the death toll numbers appear lower.
The number of Iraqi civilians killed is unknown -- some say as high as 25,000, others say over 100,000!
"Iraq was exporting 2.1 million barrels [of oil] before the start of war in March 2003. That number is now about 1.3 million barrels a day. " This for a war pursued in part to guarantee our country a stable source of oil for the future.
The price of a barrel of oil before the war was about $28; now it's up to $60 a barrel! (Of course, the war alone is not solely to blame for this, but it has had a large effect). (3)
Some more numbers:
26 million
Population of Iraq
5,000
Estimated number of insurgents in November 2003
16,000
Estimated number of insurgents in May 2005
150,000
Total number of U.S. troops in May 2003
135,000
Total number of U.S. troops in June 2005
74
Number of U.S. troops killed in April 2003
76
Number of U.S. troops killed in June 2005
16
Average number of hours of electricity available each day in March 2004
9.4
Average number of hours of electricity available each day in June 2005
.6 percent
Rate of inflation in July 2004
11.4 percent
Rate of inflation in February 2005
18
Number of car bombs in June 2004
135
Number of car bombs in May 2005
16
Number of daily attacks by insurgents in July 2002
70
Number of daily attacks by insurgents in May 2005
137
Number of U.S. troops killed before Bush declared an end to major combat operations on May 1, 2003
1,607
Number of U.S. troops killed after Bush declared an end to major combat operations (4)
Sources:
(1) http://database.nationalpriorities.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/NPP.woa/12/wo/QEDTcJPGpGVOyyYYT6XmN0/0.0.1.3.12.1;
(2) http://database.nationalpriorities.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/NPP.woa/12/wo/QEDTcJPGpGVOyyYYT6XmN0/3.0.1.3.12;
(3) http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=7927;
(4) http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=7928 ;
(5) http://www.nationalpriorities.org/TaxDay2005/pdf/txaus.pdf
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