On this edition of Your Call’s Authoritarian Playbook Series, we're marking Tax Day by finding out how your taxes are being spent.
As more than half of Americans struggle to afford basic necessities, the average taxpayer is paying $4,049 for weapons and war and $1,870 for Pentagon contractors, according to the National Priorities Project.
With Trump now requesting $1.5 trillion in military spending for next year amid the ongoing US-Israeli war on Iran, he has proposed even deeper cuts to federal funding for education, healthcare, and housing, despite the fact that most Americans oppose the war and overwhelmingly support programs like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and federal food assistance.
What will it take to change the way the US government prioritizes spending?
Guests:
Lindsay Koshgarian, program director of the National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy Studies
Bobby Kogan, senior director of federal budget policy at the Center for American Progress
Resources:
National Priorities Project: Tax Day 2026: Taxpayers Are Paying More than $4,000 for War
Center for American Progress: Trump’s Budget Request Cuts Programs That Help Ordinary Americans and Sinks That Money Toward War
MS NOW: Trump’s new budget proposal is historic – in one of the worst ways possible
NBC News: How Trump's tax law boosts the wealthy and leaves behind some workers he promised to help
Harvard Kennedy School: Why is the war in Iran so expensive?
