Where Does Your Tax Dollar Go? (U.S. and Canada)
We watched “Stranger Than Fiction” a few weeks ago, I really liked it and keep coming back to it. I give it 10/10 and will buy it on DVD. End of movie review. Here’s a sort of funny dialog from “Stranger Than Fiction” that resonated with me:
Harold Crick: It says, in the file, that you only paid part of your taxes for last year.
Ana Pascal: That’s right.
Harold Crick: Looks like only 78 percent.
Ana Pascal: Yep.
Harold Crick: So you did it on purpose?
Ana Pascal: Yep.
Harold Crick: So you must’ve been expecting an audit.
Ana Pascal: Um, I was expecting a fine, or a sharp reprimand.
Harold Crick: A reprimand? This isn’t boarding school, Miss Pascal. You stole from the government.
Ana Pascal: No I didn’t steal from the government. I just didn’t pay you *entirely*.
Harold Crick: Miss Pascal, you can’t just not pay your taxes.
Ana Pascal: Yes, I can.
Harold Crick: You can if you want to get audited.
Ana Pascal: Only if I recognize your right to audit me, Mr. Crick.
Harold Crick: Miss Pascal, I’m right here auditing you.
Ana Pascal: Listen, I’m a big supporter of fixing potholes and erecting swing sets and building shelters. I am *more* than happy to pay those taxes. I’m just not such a big fan of the percentage that the government uses for national defense, corporate bailouts, and campaign discretionary funds. So, I didn’t pay those taxes. I think I sent a letter to that effect with my return.
Harold Crick: Would it be the letter that begins “Dear Imperialist Swine”?
I find myself thinking more and more that I don’t want to pay taxes, or rather not “entirely” 🙂 As most people who give it a thought, I at least partially disagree with how the tax money is spent.
Here’s where the Canadian tax dollar goes
![](https://www.phantasmix.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/taxes_canada.gif)
Category descriptions in the chart are kind of vague, but they’re explained in detail here: http://www.fin.gc.ca/TaxDollar/text/html/pamphlet_e.html My web search skills may suck but it was a lot harder to find a clear picture of where the American money goes. Canadian government websites seem to be more straight-forward, like they have less to hide 🙂
Here’s where the American tax dollar goes
Note: I put this chart together, therefore the way it’s colored is obviously biased. The big bright blocks comprise 75% of the budget.
![](http://www.phantasmix.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/taxes_usa.gif)
The budget should be a reflection of the people’s priorities, whether that’s true or not is a separate question. The major differences are in Defense and Health care allocations. Even if the Healthcare diff. may be due to how federal and state/provincial governments handle things (maybe individual provinces take on more than the states do, for example), but the Defense is clearly a federal expense. Canadians get offended when people say “they’re just like Americans”, and rightly so, at least our budget is a reflection of the peaceful nation that we are. With this, I end my very much delayed bash of the American-Iraqi war. Tax spending is a topic for another time, when I start breaking my New Year’s resolutions and go back to my complaining self.
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