The United States Budget Proposal for 2012
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What would YOUR budget look like if it were stuck into a sweet infographic?
Posts Tagged ‘government spending’
Where your tax dollars are going in 2012…
Tuesday, March 8th, 2011UK Tackles National Debt By Taking An Axe To The Budget
Wednesday, October 20th, 2010It’s bold, it’s risky, it’s the 2011 United Kingdom budget!
- Britain has been hit as hard as the rest of the world by the global economic crisis. Now it’s following the lead of some other European nations by tightening the tap of government spending.
- The spending plan, unveiled today by Britain’s top finance minister, represents the deepest reduction in public spending since WWII. It’s a much more serious spending reduction than any other Western nations have attempted so far.
- Groups opposed to the plan say it is too severe and will interfere with employment and stunt growth. But the budget deficit facing British lawmakers is too big to ignore.
Facts & Figures
- Britain’s deficit is 11.5% of its economy. The U.S. deficit is 10.7%, and the German deficit is 5.4%.
- The plan involves significant cuts to welfare, public sector jobs, and local government budgets. The retirement age will also be raised from 65 to 66 four years earlier than planned.
- The average reduction of each government department’s budget will be around 19%
Best Quote
“We have had to make choices, choices in the things we support. We have taken our country back from the brink of bankruptcy.” – George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer
What does the government do with all this tax money?
Tuesday, July 7th, 2009If you’ve ever received a paycheck, you’ve probably noticed that a big chunk of your earnings go to Uncle Sam. The government collects trillions of dollars in taxes every year. There are different types of taxes, such as income tax and property tax, but all funds collected are ultimately spent by the government.
In 2004, the federal budget was approximately $2 trillion. Here is a breakdown of how that money was spent:
- 26.2%—Military
- 22.6%—Interest on the national debt
- 19%—Health care
- 5.5%—Income security
- 3.4%—Veterans’ benefits
- 3.3%—Education
- 2.5%—Nutrition
- 1.6%—Housing
- 1.6%—Environment
- 11.4%—Everything else
You can get much more detailed information by visiting government agency websites like the Congressional Budget Office.
Why does the United States give more aid to developing countries than anyone else?
Tuesday, July 7th, 2009In absolute numbers, the U.S. gives by far the most money in Official Development Assistance (ODA) – in 2008 it was nearly twice that of the next biggest donor, Germany. Compared to how much money we have, however, the U.S. actually gives the least of any developed country. Does this mean Americans are the least generous people of all the nations of the industrialized world? Hardly. ODA is just foreign aid give by governments under the watch of the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development). It doesn’t take into account private contributions from individuals, foundations, and other institutions.
American people, foundations, and institutions send more money and aid abroad than private citizens and organizations in any other developed country in the world by far. Why? It might be easier to understand by examining why people in other countries give less. In Europe – where most of our fellow developed countries are located – there are tons of big social programs based on the philosophy that the government should take care of the poor and other issues that Americans generally think should be taken care of by private individuals, religious organizations, and stuff like that. In order to pay for these big social programs, these countries have equally big taxes. Even more so, the U.S. gives tax breaks to people who give to charity – almost paying you to give money away.
Living under the assumption that the government should pay for all social ills, and having less money to give away because of higher taxes isn’t a recipe for huge private donations.