Blog - Don't Despair, Just Stare at the Wall

If you want a daily reminder of where all the tax money that doesn’t go into your paycheck actually goes, then put this stunning new poster up on your wall. You may be relieved just to see what a magnificent display the people at BudgetGraph.com can make materialize out of those dollars that seem to disappear so abstractly from your paycheck.

The brand new “Death and Taxes” poster, which represents the entire 2008 federal discretionary budget as requested by President Bush, has just been released. Discretionary spending is the money that Congress specifically approves every year. It makes up about a third of the entire federal budget. From the BudgetGraph website:

>“Death and Taxes” is a representational poster of the federal discretionary budget; the amount of money that is spent at the discretion of your elected representatives in Congress. Basically, your federal income taxes. The data is from the President’s budget request for 2008. It will be debated, amended, and approved by Congress by October 1st to begin the fiscal year.
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>The poster provides a uniquely revealing look at our national priorities, that fluctuate yearly, according to the wishes of the President, the power of Congress, and the will of the people. If you pay taxes, then you have paid for a small part of everything in the poster.
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>So now you know what you’ve paid for, the next question to ask, is why?

Go here to zoom in and browse the poster by department. Go here to send a copy of the poster and a note to a member of Congress, or here if you want to buy one for yourself.