Where does my money go (UK) - Is there a US equivalent

[Marc Vaughan]

Hi,

If you pop along to:

Where Does My Money Go | Showing you where your taxes get spent

Then English people can enter their salary into the site and it explains what they pay in tax and where it goes - very friendly and informative, is there a US equivalent out there?

Marc

[PilotMan]

[JediKooter]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

Thread won already.

[PilotMan]

Sorry to kill this Marc.

Here is the best info that I have been able to find.

[Marc Vaughan]

Thanks PilotMan - much appreciated;

My thought after my first glance look was that I expected the military spending to be higher .. however once I looked closer I found it interesting that its sorted by cost and that the various military costs are split up several times to try and make them appear lesser (when in fact if they're totalled they're probably the biggest expense).

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

Thanks PilotMan - much appreciated;

My thought after my first glance look was that I expected the military spending to be higher .. however once I looked closer I found it interesting that its sorted by cost and that the various military costs are split up several times to try and make them appear lesser (when in fact if they're totalled they're probably the biggest expense).

By my quick math, it's about $7700 for defense so not as much as social security but more than everything else. That said, you also receive back your social security money so that's pay today to get it back tomorrow.

SI

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

By my quick math, it's about $7700 for defense so not as much as social security but more than everything else. That said, you also receive back your social security money so that's pay today to get it back tomorrow.

SI

The way I totalled things was:

Main short-term military costs
Non-Iraq Military	2188.03
Iraq/Afghan		1780.46
Military Personnel	1534.71
Military weapons	1232.48
Military research	969.90
Total 7705.58

Main long-term military costs
Veterans benefits	594.09
Veteran health		490.90
Military retirement	259.48
Total  1344.47

Sum Total: 9050.05

Comparison:
NASA			217.24

I realise that long term costs are somewhat committed to (ie. you can't just cull them) however by continuing to commit huge amounts of money to the military they are only going to get worse - restricting the military budget would also reduce the long term costs over time ...

(big military seems a larger cost to America and its people/economy than 'big government' tbh)

I also find it a travesty that NASA which provides hugely not just for America but for human kind has a budget which is a fraction of that committed to the military - heck a fraction of the military 'research' budget, why in this day and age are we committing more money to destroying each other than to improving ourselves? ....

[panerd]

I think an important question is who is getting that "interest on the national debt" that comes out to like half a trillion a year? I know the simple answer is bond holders, but I would love a breakdown of who the bond holders are. Where is that money really going?

[panerd]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

The way I totalled things was:

Main short-term military costs
Non-Iraq Military	2188.03
Iraq/Afghan		1780.46
Military Personnel	1534.71
Military weapons	1232.48
Military research	969.90
Total 7705.58

Main long-term military costs
Veterans benefits	594.09
Veteran health		490.90
Military retirement	259.48
Total  1344.47

Sum Total: 9050.05

Comparison:
NASA			217.24

I realise that long term costs are somewhat committed to (ie. you can't just cull them) however by continuing to commit huge amounts of money to the military they are only going to get worse - restricting the military budget would also reduce the long term costs over time ...

(big military seems a larger cost to America and its people/economy than 'big government' tbh)

I also find it a travesty that NASA which provides hugely not just for America but for human kind has a budget which is a fraction of that committed to the military - heck a fraction of the military 'research' budget, why in this day and age are we committing more money to destroying each other than to improving ourselves? ....

You are also forgetting all of the spy agencies and border control and foreign "aid". Pretty sure this all is part of the military industrial complex.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by panerd

I think an important question is who is getting that "interest on the national debt" that comes out to like half a trillion a year? I know the simple answer is bond holders, but I would love a breakdown of who the bond holders are. Where is that money really going?

Wikipedia has an interesting breakdown on this - interestingly the UK is the third largest holder behind China and Japan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_debt

Nation/Territory - billions of dollars - percentage 
People's Republic of China (mainland) $846.7b 20.8% 
Japan $821.0b 20.2%
United Kingdom $374.3b 9.2%
Oil exporters1 $223.8b 5.5%
Caribbean Banking Centers2 $150.7b 3.7%
Brazil $162.2b 4.0%
Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region) $135.2b 3.3%
Russia $130.9b 3.2%
Republic of China (Taiwan) $130.5b 3.2%
Grand Total $4065.8b 100% 

[Marc Vaughan]

This might interest a few people also - its the UK government statistics website but appears to link to the US equivalent information in some areas:

UK National Debt - Current, Recent, Historical Charts Tables

[stevew]

And old people.

[MikeVic]

Anything like this for Canada?