How much would your taxes be reduced if the social programs you hate were eliminated?

Question

Do the math.

Get a copy of the US budget, find the programs you hate, add them all up, then figure out the percentage they represent of the entire budget,

Then apply that percentage to your most recent tax filing.

Remember, 50% goes to the military and 30% goes to interest on the debt. That leaves 20% for everything else, from dredging the Mississippi, to direct welfare payments, to corporate welfare., to roads in natonal parks.

Do the math.

Answer 1

The cost of taxes is like the price of gasoline, the only direction they go is up. Tax cuts are only a smoke screen for deficit spending where the government borrows yet more money and only makes the payments on the interest. At some point somebody is going to have to pay the piper in the way of higher taxes. Besides, if the government were to get rid of programs that the public didn't like it would only find other ways to spend the money. The government would never give it back.

Answer 2

I went to Ben & Jerry's site and played with pie. lol. I wasn't too far off. Is Ben and Jerry's accurate?

Anyway, I think I learned in Economics to look at not only the budget, but the deficit. I can't remember what the percentages are, but entitlement programs claim a big chunk of the deficit.

I'm not a Democrat, but Bill Clinton had a good plan to claim some of that money back, or at least get the program under control. It was called TEA, and the short of it was it didn't matter if you owned a car and/or a home. If you were a single parent without a job and no savings, you could qualify for benefits. Food Stamps, a check, and medical for both you and your children. Once you signed up, your benefits started, and you had to look for a job and report to your case worker each week. If at the end of two weeks you still didn't have a job, in order to keep receiving benefits, you had to volunteer 20 hours a week locally. 24 checks, or two years on the program, was all a person was allowed. Ideally,that meant volunteering at nursing homes and hospitals, local businesses, somewhere that you could learn a skill and have something to add to your resume and ultimately get a job and keeping it. However, minorities felt that actually working for the money the goverment gave them each month was unconstitutional.

Answer 3

What you have written here is practically a public service. I never hear about even one-tenth of this in the Liberal media. The only thing you hear about in the newspapers or on tv are the problems we are experiencing in Iraq, and every news story is slanted to denigrate the President. I hope that during the 2008 campaign, the Republicans expose the shocking Liberal bias of the media. They should cite these points during their National Convention, and after each accomplishment is read to the audience, the same question should be posed to the audience: has the Liberal media EVER let you know about this? Why are they so dishonest in their reporting? In fact, I would take this one step further. The Republicans should challenge skeptical Democrats to watch their televised National Convention. Can you imagine the shock the typical Lib will have when he finds out the person they have been so irresponsibly attacking has done so much good? Maybe this will finally start a backlash against the press.

Answer 4

Beg Pardon "Dad", I have done the math for 30 years, 100% of the IRS revenue from income tax goes directly to the Federal Reserve Bank to pay the interest on the national debt. As the economy fluctuates (usually improving, as with Reagan) so does income tax revenue, so then does congressional borrowing power, and the debt goes up.
The problem is not the value ($) amount of the programs, but the long term costs to society they manifest, like a trillion for drug and welfare ghetto law enforcement after welfare programs emasculated the father, driving him out of the "Ideal family unit" as envisioned by liberals in their eternal search for the Utopian government run system.
The Budget report you are relying on is not a true financial report, just an invention of Congress to appease the media. You need to study the Congressional Financial Abstract a little closer. NO percentage of IRS revenue is used for military spending. The Federal Government still has considerable income from Import and excise taxes and operating “fees”. YOU do the math.
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Answer 5

You left out the 100 billion dollars extra for the war in Iraq.
Social programs make up a very small part of the federal budget, yet do the most good for the most people.
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Yes, I've done the math. We're broke and yet the goveremnt cuts school lunch programs to save $50 million !@! The feds cut back and saved $10million by laying off food inspectors at the Dept of Health. Boy, I can't wait to get my refund!

Answer 6

You would like to see all the social programs to be dissolved, eh?
Many social programs are used for paying the salaries of many kinds of workers, highway reconstruction, benefitting struggling stores, used as grants for state projects, etc. Those should go away too?
Although that would be nice for many if certain other social programs could be eliminated, it is selfish to think this way because the poor need to get a boost so that they can be on par with the middle class someday.

Answer 7

The federal budget is not easy to understand. I think any high level commentary on the budget should be done with at least 2 perspectives. One with Social Security on budget and once with it off.

People opposed to entitlement spending rarely refer to the fact that approximately 50% of current federal revenues are from Social Security.

Comment to Aggie: You're arguing with Thomas Jefferson when you suggest we don't need public education. I know times have changed since the eighteenth century but I think you are off base with your comment above.

Answer 8

Personal income taxes is what goes to pay for the interest on the debt. The rest of your tax money goes to pay for the benefits you receive in terms of highways, welfare, etc..

If they ended the socialist programs tomorrow, our tax burden would just be shifted to another area. The politicians will squeeze us for every dime they can, and will justify it with whatever they can pull from their one-way digestive tracts.

Answer 9

Hey, "Aggie!" Isn't Texas A&M a public state supported school, financed in part by the taxpayers of the state of Texas? Hmmmm.......

Answer 10

Taxes would be reduced significantly if these useless social programs for the lazy were eliminated.