On or about April 15th, our thoughts turn not just to money, but to our money, or the taxes we pay.
At one time, mainstream newspapers printed front page representations of the federal budget. The idea was, that readers, who for the most part were taxpayers, would be able to see where their money was going, at least in terms of broad policy slices. It helps you think about who to vote for, when you can see their spending policies.
No one wants to spend foolishly, but can we see how our tax money is being spent without being data wizards?
Imagine filing your taxes and getting a receipt from the IRS that showed how your money was spent.
David Kendall, a senior fellow at the think tank Third Way, argues that this would clear up misconceptions about where our taxpayer dollars go and help restore trust between citizens and the government. Robert Siegel talks with Kendall about his idea in NPR’s What If The IRS Showed How Your Taxes Are Spent?
Here is the Third Way’s Idea brief as well as their tax calculator. Interesting enough, as Robert Siegel notes in his NPR interview with Kendall, the Whitehouse.gov is now just such a receipt, if you know what you paid in taxes.
Back in February, the New York Times provided a great visualization of the budget proposed by Pres. Obama allowing the ordinary viewer to get a sense of where cuts and changes in funding would make the greatest difference.
The Washington Post’s Mark Luckie explains what’s innovative in the way news organizations are taking on explaining the complexity of today’s federal budget, with motion graphics, and other interactive tools in several news organizations.
Ben Cohen, of Ben and Jerry’s worked with TrueMajority in 2007 to produce a very easy to understand budget explainer using animated Oreo’s.
So, if you’ve got a few minutes this weekend, it shouldn’t be too taxing to see just where your money goes.
Related articles
- Where do tax dollars go? The idealistic – and probably hopeless – plan to educate Americans about the budget by sending them itemized “tax receipts.” (slate.com)
- White House unveils ‘receipt’ for taxes you pay (money.cnn.com)
