Where do you tax dollars go?

[Neo]

If you're like me, you've probably wondered what a map of where your tax dollars go would look like. Someone has created just that. You can zoom in and out, pan, etc on the map below:

[torgo]

For some reason, I expected a picture of a big toilet flushing. Color me surprised.

[monsoon]

It is amazing how much of the budget goes towards the military and defense spending. $67 of every $100 you pay in taxes goes towards war.

It should be noted that $0 have been budgeted for the Iraq War. The entire operation in Iraq, closing in on $2T was handled by emergency borrowing bills. One of the biggest shams in American history.

Over 8% of the budget is going to pay just the interest on the federal debt. In a couple of years it will be more than 10%...

All of the corporations in the United States paid just $339B in corporate taxes, and it is the only tax category that is going down. To put this number in perspective, Citigroup alone has gotten more money in this from the federal government in bailouts. Bank of America has gotten another $150B.

Social Security more than pays for itself. It's the government robbing the fund that is the problem.

[Neo]

It is amazing how much of the budget goes towards the military and defense spending. $67 of every $100 you pay in taxes goes towards war.

It certainly shows where our country's heart is. IMO we should drastically reduce this amount and work our hardest on paying down our current debt rather than rack it up. I understand there is great opposition to this, but there will come a time, if we continue on our current path, where we will simply be unable for basic services if we don't make some major cuts in the very near term.

In 2008 the government spent $412B just in interest payments compared to $61B for education. Debt cannot be a part of our future.

Do you think there is any way we could start reducing debt and not just reducing the deficit by the end of Obama's first term? Instead of Obama announcing his plan to halve the deficit by 2013, I would hear him announcing a plan to have a surplus by 2013 so we could start work on reducing the overall debt.