When a politician wants to appear to be tough on federal spending, he'll often find some ridiculous line item and exclaim, "The federal government spent $50 million studying gender awareness in warthogs!"

Yes, I just made that up, but who knows? It very well might be real. My point is, while a number like $50 million is huge to most of us, it is not even a rounding error to the $7 trillion per year federal budget.

Just so the point isn't lost, $7 trillion is $7 million million. So, 50/7,000,000,000 = ostensibly zero.

When I talk to people, even those interested in federal spending, it is obvious to me they have no idea where the money comes from and where it goes, even from a high level. What percentage is spent on the military? What percentage is spent on entitlements? What percentage is spent on the administrative state?

Similarly, they don't seem to know much about taxes. How much comes from the income tax? How much from corporate taxes? Tariffs? 

This sounds boring but you really can't make intelligent decisions on what to support or not support until you get at least a high level understanding of federal spending (maybe I'll do state spending in a separate episode - guaranteed to be a surprise to most people).

Anywho, I think you'll find today's episode surprisingly interesting and enlightening. 

Watch the video version of Episode 199 here...

Audio and Show Notes for Episode 199 here...

Tom Mullen is the author of It’s the Fed, Stupid and Where Do Conservatives and Liberals Come From? And What Ever Happened to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness? 

 Tom