Where US Tax Dollars Went

US priorities never cease to amaze me! According to the National Priorities Project at the country's Institute for Policy Studies, the average taxpayer in the United States paid $1,087 to Pentagon contractors and just $270 for K-12 public education in 2022. 

 

Other interesting tax facts to know are: 

• The average taxpayer paid $74 for nuclear weapons, and just $43 for the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC). 
• The average taxpayer paid $70 for deportations and border control, versus just $19 for refugee assistance. 
• The average taxpayer paid $20 for federal prisons, and just $11 to help end homelessness. 
• The average taxpayer paid $298 to the top 5 military contractors, and just $19 for mental health and substance abuse programs. 
• The average taxpayer paid $106 to the top military contractor Lockheed Martin, and only $6 for renewable energy. 
  

Already from the above, it is clearly evident that the country spares no effort to spend massive heaps of taxpayers' money on the military. 

 

In fact, the United States remains by far the world's biggest military spender! US military spending reached $877 billion in 2022, which was 39 percent of total global military spending and three times more than the amount spent by China, the world's second largest spender. 

 

Therefore, it is not surprising to learn that the country has also the world's third largest military in terms of manpower, with nearly 1.4 million active military personnel in 2022. 

 

Not only that but the United States still maintains nearly 800 military bases in more than 70 countries and territories abroad – from giant “Little Americas” to small radar facilities. Britain, France and Russia, by contrast, have about 30 foreign bases combined. 

 

All of this facilitates the US of A to engage in gunboat diplomacy around the world. Whoever, wherever, whenever.