6 ms·

Couldn't agree more. It is disgraceful how our tax dollars are used to prop up failed business models and oppress the little guy. Just another example of how su

Couldn't agree more. It is disgraceful how our tax dollars are used to prop up failed business models and oppress the little guy. Just another example of how supposedly democratic states only serve the interests of the elite.

Vt71fcAqt7 4y ago
>It is disgraceful how our tax dollars are used to prop up failed business models and oppress the little guy U.S. Government Spending, FY 2022 Top 10 Spending by Category $ 1.22 T Social Security $ 914 B Health $ 865 B Income Security $ 767 B National Defense $ 755 B Medicare $ 677 B Education, Training, Employment, and Social Services How do you explain this data? Source:https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/federal-spending/ https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/feder...
- denvrede 4y ago
  Genuine question: I always hear about the gigantic military spending in the U.S. I would've expected it to be on top of this list. It can't be only 7. no?
  - bombcar 4y ago
    US military spending is HUGE compared to other countries budgets. It is not that big compared to the US budget - in WW2 we spent about 45% of GDP on military stuff - if that was done today we'd have a budget of about ten trillion dollars. Also much of what is classified as military spending could probably be moved to other categories - the VA, for example.
    - kranke155 4y ago
      Wow. Imagine the Manhattan Projects you could make with ten trillion!
      - artificial 4y ago
        The Manhattan Project began modestly in 1939, but grew to employ more than 130,000 people and cost nearly US$2 billion (equivalent to about $23 billion in 2020). We're nearing $100 billion with Ukraine. $31 billion to California EDD (unemployment) fraud.
  - thestevesie 4y ago
    Its large compared to other similar countries. So why doesn't the US just spend that money so we can be more like X trendy country I heard about on Y blog/podcast that is a fraction of the size of the US and does "EVERYTHING" better? Well, the case is that they have more money to spend because the US is subsidizing their military. So many of these countries are able to get away with tiny military budgets because of the US's large military budget. (all of those countries are also unrecoverably in decline)
    - PartiallyTyped 4y ago
      the US does not subsidise other countries, not to the degree that you think anyways. It’s also not a matter of spending more money. The US spends a lot more per capita on healthcare than everyone else, so money is not the issue.
      - pas 4y ago
        not really, US healthcare spending is average for US income. (the problem is the distribution of that income) https://randomcriticalanalysis.com/2020/02/13/its-still-not-the-health-care-prices-2017-edition/#rcatoc-modest-price-to-income-ratios-and-high-costs-are-perfectly-compatible https://randomcriticalanalysis.com/2020/02/13/its-still-not-...
      - deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
      - kneebonian 4y ago
        It may not be direct subsidiaries but I'd be willing to wager a pretty penny that there are a lot of European countries that feel comfortable with spending little on defense and aren't worrying about Russia because they know the US has their back. Not to mention keeping Taiwan from being brought under the CCP umbrella, the efforts the US Navy puts into preventing and reducing piracy. In fact most of the world that doesn't worry about imminent invasion from it's neighbors doesn't worry mostly because the US has provided almost global security by virtue of having the largest most capable military on the planet. I won't pretend it is perfect or that we have global peace but like during Pax Romana although they were still squabbling with the Sassinids, the average person's risk of dying as a result of military conflict is very small when compared historically, especially since almost every military action in the past half century has been not between modern nation states but between guerrilla and partisan forces which results in considerably less damage in life and property than a full scale conflict between two capable actors as the Iran Iraq war proves.
  - jwilk 4y ago
    Why 7?
  - karaterobot 4y ago
    A lot of military spending is disguised (not to say maliciously) as funding to other agencies. For example, that number is probably just the Pentagon's budget, and wouldn't include things like Veterans Affairs (which is about $300 billion) or foreign aid (around $50 billion) or the Department of Homeland Security (around $50 billion) or our nuclear force ($35 billion), etc. Even some of NASA's funding is for monitoring nukes. The point is that it's actually kind of hard to calculate how much we spend on defense, because it's hard to know what to count, but it's certainly more than it looks like. Over $1 trillion is a safe guess.
  - WillPostForFood 4y ago
    When talking about spending, some people exclude programs like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, income security programs from their list of spending because it doesn't need to be approved every year - it is classified as 'Mandatory Spending' and is 63% of the budget. The remaining spending, has to be approved every year is classified as 'Discretionary Spending'. When you just look at discretionary spending, the military budget is the biggest piece. But if someone says the US spends most of its budget on military spending, it is false and deceptive.
  - zmgsabst 4y ago
    Are you expecting a source better than the US treasury to appear? An unfortunate reality of the US is that policy discussion is almost wholly disconnected from quantified reality: we’re not even arguing about facts, anymore. If we started examining facts, the populace would become aware that the US pays more for less than other “developed” nations — largely due to corruption in healthcare, construction, and manufacturing (eg, military).
- calibas 4y ago
  According to a different official government site, it's $1.2 T on National Defense... https://www.usaspending.gov/explorer/budget_function https://www.usaspending.gov/explorer/budget_function
  - Vt71fcAqt7 4y ago
    Thanks for that link. It also shows medicare as increased to $1.5 T
    - jamiek88 4y ago
      Yeah but we paid into a social fund for Medicare and social security. It’s not tax revenue it’s our savings.
      - kneebonian 4y ago
        It wasnt't supposed to be tax revenue. Doesn't mean they didn't treat it that way anyway.
      - Vt71fcAqt7 4y ago
        Is that what they told you? You don't "pay into" social security, you _pay for_ other old people's current social security. And you certainly do not "pay into" Medicare. Also the "social fund" of Medicare and social security certainly benefit "the little guy" more than anyone else, which was the whole point I was making. Also, who is "we?" Some people would rather have that cash for themselves or invest it on their own. And technically all taxes can be called a "social fund" so I don't see hiw this point even begins. If you go to jail for not paying into a "social fund" it's tax revenue.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
primroot 4y ago
"Civil government, so far as it is instituted for the security of property, is in reality instituted for the defence of the rich against the poor, or of those who have some property against those who have none at all." - Adam Smith
- Vt71fcAqt7 4y ago
  We're not talking about security of property here but about who benefits from government spending.
  - candiodari 4y ago
    > but about who benefits from government spending Elon Musk? And, if you count foregoing taxes as spending, Jeff Bezos?
1letterunixname 4y ago
Visit any courtroom in America. It's poor people who commit small crimes who end up in prison. Wall St. fat cats who push opiates on the masses get away with murder and get a slap on the wrist.
cies 4y ago
[flagged]
- joxel 4y ago
  At least the anti-democracy party didn’t name themselves after democracy. That would’ve been an even worse joke.
  - cies 4y ago
    the point im trying to make is they both hopelessly anti-democracy. they all love lobbying (= anti-democracy to me: the deeper pockets have more influence) there in washington
    - joxel 4y ago
      Like most things, anti-democratic activity is a spectrum rather than black or white. It seems fairly obvious to me that there is a large gulf between the two parties on that spectrum.
      - Vt71fcAqt7 4y ago
        It also doesn't help that true democracy isn't something people actualy want. So democracy has basically been redefined to mean a republic that makes decisions that benefit or are demanded by the most people.
        cies 4y ago
        > It also doesn't help that true democracy isn't something people actualy want. Source? > So democracy has basically been redefined to mean a republic that makes decisions that benefit or are demanded by the most people. I claim that with lobby being allowed, democracy is a facade to hide plutocracy's ugly face. "a republic that makes decisions that benefit or are demanded by the rich/companies that can afford lobbying" is what I think the word democracy currently hides.
      - 4y ago

Vt71fcAqt7 4y ago

>It is disgraceful how our tax dollars are used to prop up failed business models and oppress the little guy U.S. Government Spending, FY 2022 Top 10 Spending by Category $ 1.22 T Social Security $ 914 B Health $ 865 B Income Security $ 767 B National Defense $ 755 B Medicare $ 677 B Education, Training, Employment, and Social Services How do you explain this data? Source:https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/federal-spending/ https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/feder...

denvrede 4y ago
Genuine question: I always hear about the gigantic military spending in the U.S. I would've expected it to be on top of this list. It can't be only 7. no?
- bombcar 4y ago
  US military spending is HUGE compared to other countries budgets. It is not that big compared to the US budget - in WW2 we spent about 45% of GDP on military stuff - if that was done today we'd have a budget of about ten trillion dollars. Also much of what is classified as military spending could probably be moved to other categories - the VA, for example.
  - kranke155 4y ago
    Wow. Imagine the Manhattan Projects you could make with ten trillion!
    - artificial 4y ago
      The Manhattan Project began modestly in 1939, but grew to employ more than 130,000 people and cost nearly US$2 billion (equivalent to about $23 billion in 2020). We're nearing $100 billion with Ukraine. $31 billion to California EDD (unemployment) fraud.
- thestevesie 4y ago
  Its large compared to other similar countries. So why doesn't the US just spend that money so we can be more like X trendy country I heard about on Y blog/podcast that is a fraction of the size of the US and does "EVERYTHING" better? Well, the case is that they have more money to spend because the US is subsidizing their military. So many of these countries are able to get away with tiny military budgets because of the US's large military budget. (all of those countries are also unrecoverably in decline)
  - PartiallyTyped 4y ago
    the US does not subsidise other countries, not to the degree that you think anyways. It’s also not a matter of spending more money. The US spends a lot more per capita on healthcare than everyone else, so money is not the issue.
    - pas 4y ago
      not really, US healthcare spending is average for US income. (the problem is the distribution of that income) https://randomcriticalanalysis.com/2020/02/13/its-still-not-the-health-care-prices-2017-edition/#rcatoc-modest-price-to-income-ratios-and-high-costs-are-perfectly-compatible https://randomcriticalanalysis.com/2020/02/13/its-still-not-...
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - kneebonian 4y ago
      It may not be direct subsidiaries but I'd be willing to wager a pretty penny that there are a lot of European countries that feel comfortable with spending little on defense and aren't worrying about Russia because they know the US has their back. Not to mention keeping Taiwan from being brought under the CCP umbrella, the efforts the US Navy puts into preventing and reducing piracy. In fact most of the world that doesn't worry about imminent invasion from it's neighbors doesn't worry mostly because the US has provided almost global security by virtue of having the largest most capable military on the planet. I won't pretend it is perfect or that we have global peace but like during Pax Romana although they were still squabbling with the Sassinids, the average person's risk of dying as a result of military conflict is very small when compared historically, especially since almost every military action in the past half century has been not between modern nation states but between guerrilla and partisan forces which results in considerably less damage in life and property than a full scale conflict between two capable actors as the Iran Iraq war proves.
- jwilk 4y ago
  Why 7?
- karaterobot 4y ago
  A lot of military spending is disguised (not to say maliciously) as funding to other agencies. For example, that number is probably just the Pentagon's budget, and wouldn't include things like Veterans Affairs (which is about $300 billion) or foreign aid (around $50 billion) or the Department of Homeland Security (around $50 billion) or our nuclear force ($35 billion), etc. Even some of NASA's funding is for monitoring nukes. The point is that it's actually kind of hard to calculate how much we spend on defense, because it's hard to know what to count, but it's certainly more than it looks like. Over $1 trillion is a safe guess.
- WillPostForFood 4y ago
  When talking about spending, some people exclude programs like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, income security programs from their list of spending because it doesn't need to be approved every year - it is classified as 'Mandatory Spending' and is 63% of the budget. The remaining spending, has to be approved every year is classified as 'Discretionary Spending'. When you just look at discretionary spending, the military budget is the biggest piece. But if someone says the US spends most of its budget on military spending, it is false and deceptive.
- zmgsabst 4y ago
  Are you expecting a source better than the US treasury to appear? An unfortunate reality of the US is that policy discussion is almost wholly disconnected from quantified reality: we’re not even arguing about facts, anymore. If we started examining facts, the populace would become aware that the US pays more for less than other “developed” nations — largely due to corruption in healthcare, construction, and manufacturing (eg, military).
calibas 4y ago
According to a different official government site, it's $1.2 T on National Defense... https://www.usaspending.gov/explorer/budget_function https://www.usaspending.gov/explorer/budget_function
- Vt71fcAqt7 4y ago
  Thanks for that link. It also shows medicare as increased to $1.5 T
  - jamiek88 4y ago
    Yeah but we paid into a social fund for Medicare and social security. It’s not tax revenue it’s our savings.
    - kneebonian 4y ago
      It wasnt't supposed to be tax revenue. Doesn't mean they didn't treat it that way anyway.
    - Vt71fcAqt7 4y ago
      Is that what they told you? You don't "pay into" social security, you _pay for_ other old people's current social security. And you certainly do not "pay into" Medicare. Also the "social fund" of Medicare and social security certainly benefit "the little guy" more than anyone else, which was the whole point I was making. Also, who is "we?" Some people would rather have that cash for themselves or invest it on their own. And technically all taxes can be called a "social fund" so I don't see hiw this point even begins. If you go to jail for not paying into a "social fund" it's tax revenue.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

primroot 4y ago

"Civil government, so far as it is instituted for the security of property, is in reality instituted for the defence of the rich against the poor, or of those who have some property against those who have none at all." - Adam Smith

Vt71fcAqt7 4y ago
We're not talking about security of property here but about who benefits from government spending.
- candiodari 4y ago
  > but about who benefits from government spending Elon Musk? And, if you count foregoing taxes as spending, Jeff Bezos?

1letterunixname 4y ago

Visit any courtroom in America. It's poor people who commit small crimes who end up in prison. Wall St. fat cats who push opiates on the masses get away with murder and get a slap on the wrist.

cies 4y ago

[flagged]

joxel 4y ago
At least the anti-democracy party didn’t name themselves after democracy. That would’ve been an even worse joke.
- cies 4y ago
  the point im trying to make is they both hopelessly anti-democracy. they all love lobbying (= anti-democracy to me: the deeper pockets have more influence) there in washington
  - joxel 4y ago
    Like most things, anti-democratic activity is a spectrum rather than black or white. It seems fairly obvious to me that there is a large gulf between the two parties on that spectrum.
    - Vt71fcAqt7 4y ago
      It also doesn't help that true democracy isn't something people actualy want. So democracy has basically been redefined to mean a republic that makes decisions that benefit or are demanded by the most people.
      - cies 4y ago
        > It also doesn't help that true democracy isn't something people actualy want. Source? > So democracy has basically been redefined to mean a republic that makes decisions that benefit or are demanded by the most people. I claim that with lobby being allowed, democracy is a facade to hide plutocracy's ugly face. "a republic that makes decisions that benefit or are demanded by the rich/companies that can afford lobbying" is what I think the word democracy currently hides.
    - 4y ago