Budget Matters Blog


A Peek into the Poor People's Campaign Moral Poverty Action Congress

Last week, hundreds of people from the Poor People's Campaign assembled in Washington DC to fight against poverty.


Parity, Schmarity: The Budget Deal Gives 56% of the Discretionary Budget to the Military

The budget deal struck by the White House and House Republicans begins what could be a long-term shift in federal spending from domestic programs toward the Pentagon. 


The U.S. Still Spends More on Its Military Than Over 144 Nations Combined

Over-investment in the military is a major cause of the crises we face today. But it’s possible to reinvest in real solutions and begin to repair the harm caused by many decades of war.


Tighter Restrictions for Migrants and More Money for Border Enforcement

Title 42 ends next week and the Biden administration announced new punitive immigration policies that would continue to deny migrants and asylees at the southern border.


Climate and Militarism Converges at Power Shift 2023

Power Shift 2023 makes space for the coming together of ideas and movements, including climate and militarism.


Breaking Down Your Tax Bill

Our tax dollars should make life better, not go to waste. But the average taxpayer had to shell out over $1,000 for military contractors alone last year.


The Biden Budget Does Some Good on Poverty and Fairness. It Could Do More if it Cut the Pentagon.

The president’s budget proposal for the next fiscal year, released March 9, was heralded by human needs groups for preserving and in some cases expanding critical human needs programs to address poverty, hunger, health care, and protect children and seniors in particular. 

But as our chart shows, the Biden budget continues to fund the Pentagon and war at levels that far outpace all federal programs for housing, education, public health, and more.


20 Years On, What Did the Iraq War Truly Cost?

The war claimed more than lives and treasure — it claimed a future’s worth of lost opportunities. Now, younger generations are demanding them back.


Immigration Policy Doesn't Have to Be This Way

For 20 years, the Department of Homeland Security has made life a nightmare for millions — but Dreamers like me have seen that there’s another way.


One of the Highest Military Budgets in History

Current military spending is higher than the height of military spending during the Reagan years at the height of the Cold War. Looking further back, the Biden request is higher than the height of the Vietnam or Korean wars, too.