Seven years ago, the “global war on terror” began in Afghanistan as a military response to the September 11 attacks. In March 2003, the United States also invaded Iraq. Today, US forces are deeply mired in both countries with some 200,000 US troops in the region, of which 137,000 are in Iraq and about 40,000 in Afghanistan, with the Obama Administration requesting an  additional 21,000 troops.

With this publication, taxpayers can take stock of how the federal government spent each 2008 income tax dollar: 37.3 cents went towards military-related spending (military and military-related debt), while environment, energy and science-related spending split 2.8 cents.  Income tax dollar spending is available for all states as well as over 200 cities and towns.