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tax day
Tell Congress to Stop Spending Your Tax Dollars on Nuclear Weapons
We have the answer to realize significant cost savings, while simultaneously promoting sound fiscal policies that benefit us all and don’t threaten the survival of the human race.
Apr 16, 2025
This week was the week that our 2024 taxes were due in order to fund the fiscal year 2025 federal budget and thus our nation’s priorities. This year’s budget represents the final Biden budget. It comes at a time when our country is in a deliberate state of chaos instituted by the current administration. Under the non-elected efforts of the Department of Government Efficiency and current cabinet, we find punitive and seemingly random disjointed cutting of essential services and vital programs in addition to international aid that cuts to the core of who America is.
U.S. Congress has just passed a budget resolution requiring $1.5 trillion in savings to be realized over the next 10 years. Ultimately, budgets are moral documents. How do the current cuts, in addition to planned cuts in entitlement programs such as Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security, address our needs and follow a moral compass? How does funding nuclear weapons factor in when addressing our needs and priorities?
This year’s federal tax expenditure for all nuclear weapons programs will be $110,344,000,000. This figure was released on Tax Day in this year’s U.S. Nuclear Weapons Community Cost Project. That amounts to $3,499 per second. This year will see an increase of roughly $15.8 billion over FY 2024. Congress prides itself in being fiscally responsible. Yet when cities like Detroit are spending over $114 million on nuclear weapons programs, Atlanta over $245 million, Chicago over $961 million, and the impoverished Navajo nation of roughly 113,000 people are spending over $18 million, where is the rationale, fiscal responsibility, and sanity?
Unlike a nuclear missile that cannot be recalled after launch, the nuclear arms race and existing arsenals can be reversed and nuclear weapons can be eliminated.
The continuation of this out-of-control escalation is fueled by the myth of deterrence with dramatic increases in weapons delivery systems and missile defeat and defense expenditures. The latter is the present day version of former President Ronald Reagan’s “Strategic Defense Initiative” or “Star Wars.” Today’s version continues the elusive and easily outfoxed goal of hitting a bullet with a bullet to defend us coupled with a complex early detection system. With roughly 12,331 nuclear weapons in today’s global arsenals, the world remains closer to nuclear war than at any point in the past 80 years since the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists puts our current risk at 89 seconds to midnight and nuclear Armageddon. That risk assessment comes from the current geopolitical turmoil; climate change; and evolving disruptive technologies that increase the risk of nuclear war either by intent, miscalculation, or accident presenting a very real and present danger. Everything and everyone we care about is threatened with the distinct possibility of ending the human race.
Ultimately, the only way to prevent a nuclear war is to abolish these weapons. Unlike a nuclear missile that cannot be recalled after launch, the nuclear arms race and existing arsenals can be reversed and nuclear weapons can be eliminated. What is needed is the political will. The people need to speak, and when the people lead, the leaders will follow.
Fortunately, there is a U.S. grassroots movement, Back From the Brink, bringing diverse communities together to eliminate nuclear weapons. This movement calls on the United States to take a leadership role in bringing together the world’s nuclear powers to negotiate a time-bound, verifiable, and complete elimination of all nuclear weapons. It includes four precautionary measures to safeguard against nuclear war until that goal is achieved. These include renouncing the option of using nuclear weapons first; ending the sole, unchecked authority of any U.S. president to launch a nuclear attack; taking U.S. weapons off of hair-trigger alert; and canceling the plan to replace the entire U.S. nuclear arsenal with enhanced weapons.
Anyone can endorse this campaign. Presently 495 organizations, 78 municipalities and counties, eight state legislative bodies, 430 municipal and state officials, and 44 members of Congress have endorsed this campaign.
Last week Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) introduced U.S. House Res. 317, which lays out how we can fundamentally reform U.S. nuclear weapons policy and achieve a world free of nuclear weapons. In addition to supporting the policy points of Back From the Brink, this resolution supports: the maintenance of a de facto global moratorium on nuclear testing, protecting communities and workers affected by nuclear weapons by fully remediating their deadly legacy of environmental contamination past and current, and actively pursuing a just economic transition for the civilian and military workforce involved in this entire nuclear cycle.
We have the answer to realize significant cost savings, while simultaneously promoting sound fiscal policies that benefit us all. With life itself hanging in the balance we all must demand a meeting with our legislative leaders, urging them to endorse this legislation. If they refuse, we must ask why they are willing to put everything at risk?
Correction: An earlier version of this article said that taxpayers would pay $3,498,985.29 per second for nuclear weapons this year. The actual figure is $3,499 per second. The piece has been updated to reflect this.
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Ready to Punish the Poor in Their Districts, 7 Out of 10 GOP Lawmakers Set to Benefit From Trump Tax Scam
"Put simply: at a time when costs continue to rise for everyday Americans, this tax day, Congressional Republicans aren't focused on making their constituents' lives better," said one watchdog.
Apr 15, 2025
To honor Tax Day, a watchdog group is highlighting research showing how 70% of congressional Republicans may see personal financial benefit from the party's tax plan, now making its way through Congress, which would likely be paid for in part by deep cuts to Medicaid and through cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
According to Accountable.US, a progressive research and advocacy group, "270,000 households in many of the lowest-income Republican congressional districts could lose SNAP benefits while their representatives potentially save millions."
"While millions prepare their returns, the Trump administration and their lackeys in Congress are eagerly seeking a way to rob their constituents of vital services and pay for tax giveaways to themselves, their billionaire donors, and mega corporations," Tony Carrk, the group's executive director, said in a statement Tuesday.
"Put simply: at a time when costs continue to rise for everyday Americans, this tax day, Congressional Republicans aren't focused on making their constituents' lives better; instead they’re focused on gutting programs Americans rely on and cutting taxes for those doing just fine."
As part of its spending and tax plan, Republicans are aiming to extend expiring provisions of Trump's 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, a move that would disproportionately benefit the wealthy.
The provisions set to expire include a 20% deduction for "pass-through" businesses—whose owners report their share of profits as taxable income under the individual income tax—and the current estate tax exemption amount. If the estate tax TCJA exemption were to expire, the exemption would drop down to $7 million per individual, meaning more millionaires would be forced to pay federal estate tax.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D) also recently endorsed a full repeal of the estate tax, which is a tax applied to assets inherited by others when a wealthy person dies.
The pass-through deduction and estate tax are two benefits that are tilted toward the wealthy, according to Accountable.US, which focused on these two benefits when building their "Cash in Congress" database.
To compile the data, the group looked at lawmakers' most recent federal annual disclosure, and counted them within the 70% of lawmakers set to gain from the tax plan if they are set to benefit from the pass-through deduction.
Some lawmakers are also poised to benefit from keeping the TCJA estate tax exemption amount in place. According to Accountable.US, 18% of Republican House members and 28% of Senate Republicans are wealthy enough that they are currently subject to the estate tax. They would also pay even less in estate taxes if the provision was fully repealed.
Specifically, the 10 wealthiest House Republicans are threatening Medicaid access for 1.7 million of their own constituents, among the poorest in their districts, according to a statement from the group when they launched the database last week.
Accountable.US also highlights the situation of individual members who may benefit.
Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.) is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which is tasked with coming up with spending cuts that will likely impact Medicaid. Per Accountable.US, she could benefit from the repeal of the estate tax after reporting over $40 million in assets on her most recent annual financial disclosure.
Meanwhile, according to the group, her district has a median household income that is over 20,000 below the U.S. median household income, and 14.3% of adults have income below the poverty line. Over 35,000 of the households she represents receive SNAP benefits.
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It's Tax Day. You've Paid Your Share, But the Billionaires Haven't
Shutting down special tax breaks for very wealthy individuals and profitable corporations would go a long way to addressing our nation's deepest problems.
Apr 15, 2025
Today our 2024 taxes are due. You likely had most of your federal taxes deducted from your paychecks throughout the year. This is not true, however, for mega-millionaires and billionaires, some of whom are practically running our government right now. They receive much of their income in the form of appreciation on the stocks of the corporations they run. And the companies themselves use loopholes and deductions to reduce their tax bill, sometimes down to zero.
Take Tesla (please!).
The company, valued at over $1 trillion, paid no federal income tax on its 2024 income of $2.3 billion. And its CEO, Elon Musk, who had hoarded some $342 billion in wealth by earlier this year, avoids paying taxes on most of his income until he chooses to “realize” capital gains by selling his enormously appreciated stock.
Because of our overall low taxes, the U.S. does not collect as much revenue as other comparable nations. This means you get a lot less by being an American citizen than you get by being a French, German or Swedish citizen. Less health care, less child care, less access to affordable college.
These low taxes are part of the reason that America experiences supercharged inequality. While other countries do more to boost people at the bottom and enable upward mobility for the middle class, in the U.S. low taxes combined with an anti-worker, anti-consumer, anti-environment regulatory regime means that here the rich get richer and the rest of us stagnate.
A regime of relatively robust taxation and reasonable regulation delivered a more educated, healthier, more prosperous America.
Further, the extreme wealth of the billionaire class often lets them buy the elected officials and the policies they want—usually policies that add further to their riches in a vicious cycle that leaves most of us worse off. President Trump has given Musk the power to fire tens of thousands of workers, eliminate funding for hospitals and universities around the country, and destroy Congressionally-created agencies that carry out vital public functions.
Shutting down special tax breaks for very wealthy individuals and profitable corporations could go a long way to addressing these problems. But Trump and his allies in Congress are moving dramatically in the opposite direction. While they plan to double down on tax cuts that mainly benefit the wealthy, they are also allowing the most destructive billionaire-driven attack we’ve ever seen on the policies that keep us healthy and safe.
Musk is wielding a chainsaw against public services using his so-called DOGE (“Department of Government Efficiency” though it’s not a government agency and will likely undermine efficiency). DOGE’s cuts to services could decimate education, health, and income support. And its cuts to public oversight will enable corporations to more easily exploit us as workers, consumers, and community members.
For example, Trump and Musk are trying to eliminate the Department of Education and slash school budgets in ways that will particularly harm children with disabilities, students in disadvantaged rural and urban schools, and college access for working class kids.
They’ve fired 10,000 staff members at the Department of Health and Human Services, including those who ensure vaccine distribution, drug safety, and health care access. They’ve haphazardly slashed funding nationwide for labs conducting medical research on cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, maternal health, and more.
They tried to get rid of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), an agency which has recovered more than $21 billion for consumers from companies that engage in unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices. And they even slashed the Federal Emergency Management Association which helps communities facing floods, hurricanes, and wildfires, leaving communities unprotected.
Their reasons are three-fold, all bad for regular people:
- Cutting public services can free policymakers to pass expensive tax cuts for the wealthiest people and corporations.
- It can also allow privatization of services so Musk and others can demand payment to provide them.
- Finally by hobbling regulations and firing public employees that safeguard factories, inspect meat, and test drugs, Musk hopes to juice corporate profits as CEOs are permitted to shed factory safety equipment, ignore anti-pollution rules, and violate labor laws.
This doesn’t even begin to touch on the crazy on-again, off-again tariffs that are roiling our financial markets and industrial supply chains.
Policymakers of the 20th century created regulations, safety nets, and labor standards that made Americans more educated, more prosperous, and healthier. They didn’t work perfectly of course. But education, income, and health improved dramatically over this span.
Educational investments boosted high school attainment rates for adults from a mere 10 percent in 1910 to 90 percent by 2017. With more education and unionization, inflation-adjusted per capita income went from $18,460 in 1967 to $46,193 by 2023. Research and vaccination nearly eradicated polio, smallpox, and measles. And safety standards meant the number of workers killed on the job plummeted from 15.8 to 1.9 per 100,000 between 1928 (when tracking began) and 1998. The big picture: life expectancy at birth nearly doubled (from 46.6 years to 74.7 years) for white men and more than doubled (from 32.5 years to 68.2 years) for Black men between 1900 and the year 2000.
In other words, a regime of relatively robust taxation and reasonable regulation delivered a more educated, healthier, more prosperous America. In 2025, it seems, Trump and those he enables are trying to make American impoverished again by rolling back the 20th century and its accomplishments.
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