Many media outlets have been reporting that “entitlements” such as Social Security will consume the federal budget. I decided to get the facts on this.

According to the Congressional Budget office, federal revenue for 2010 was $2.161 trillion.

Of that amount, the portion of our tax dollars is as follows: Social Security and Medicare taxes are 40 percent, or $855 billion; federal income tax, 42 percent, or $899 billion; corporate tax is 9 percent of revenue; and, the remaining 9 percent is excise and other tax.

The American Taxpayer pays 82 percent directly to run the federal government.

Where does this money go? Most of the federal budget goes to defense and foreign aid. The base defense budget is $549 billion, plus the cost of wars and foreign aid equals approximately $1.02 trillion, or almost half of revenue.

The 2010 federal budget was $3.6 trillion, creating a $1.4 trillion budget deficit. All of these figures are similar for 2011 and 2012.

Advertisement

America spends ten times more on defense than any other country on the face of the planet. If we spent two times more on defense, would we save $800 billion and still have a military twice as large?

If the American people pay 40 percent of federal revenue to fund Social Security and Medicare, why are we “entitled” to it if we paid for it?

Finally, can the federal government live on $2.162 trillion and will the media do its homework and confront Washington with the truth?

Bobby Cox, Raymond


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.