Wait, that's how my taxes are being spent? | Opinion

NPP Pressroom

Akron Beacon Journal
Theresa Bennett
04/19/2026

Well, my taxes are filed.

I felt good about having them off my plate − that is, until I saw an email in my inbox this week citing a recent Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) report that says "the average taxpayer paid over $4,000 for weapons and war last year."

There goes any semblance of feeling good about it.

Here are a couple other feel-good stats from the IPS about where our federal dollars are going:

Taxpayers paid on average $1,870 to defense contractors last year vs. $124 for school nutrition that keeps our kids fed.
Taxpayers paid nearly double for war ($4,049) than for the Medicaid ($2,492) that keeps our neighbors healthy.
The government spent eight times more on bombs than on helping seniors with home energy assistance.

Read the full article here.