Where does your money go?

[harmonicon]

I don't know of a similar graphic for the US budget, but I find this one for the UK to be very interesting.

(it's interactive, so please do go to the link)
www.wheredoesmymoneygo.org/prototype/

Imagine for a moment what the standard of living would be in the US if our government divided the pot this way. For instance, a few quick points that seemed notable to me:
1. significantly more than twice as much is spent a year on both education and healthcare as on defense.
2. over ten billion dollars a year is spent on railroads - this is in a country with about 1/5 the population of the US. What if the US spent 50 billion a year on railroads?

These aren't figures from some pinko socialist country, but the UK, which I can assure you is about as consumerist as it gets (and our alley in the multiple wars we are fighting, so not too ideologically opposed in that respect either). This budget is overseen by the same people characterized as W's "lapdogs". This is how they spend their tax payers' money.

(p.s. sorry if this has already been posted - I just saw it today)

[Forkboy]

1. I get $704/month.

$200 for the landlord, $100 for my roommate downstairs, $300 for food (I order out waaaay too much...the one area I could tighten even more), around $50 on cat food, litter, etc, and the other $54 just gets lost in the shuffle. :)

[FormerDittoHead]

2. Here's what you need..

http://www.warresisters.org/pages/piechart.htm
MILITARY: 54% and $1,449 billion
NON-MILITARY: 46% and $1,210 billion




Your chart - Great Britain - $60 billion(American) for "Defence" - so cute!

[sinkingfeeling]

3. Here's one. Notice everthing is in $billions.

But the really cool one is here: http://flowingdata.com/2009/07/23/death-and-taxes-poster-2010-50-off-for-flowingdata-readers/

Use the 'zoomable' version to read the 'bubbles'.