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Comparision of U.S. Federal Budget Priorities with NASA Spending
by J. David Baxter
2007 U.S. Federal Budget for One Year
- Department of Health and Human Services (Includes Medicare/Medicaid)
$640.7 Billion - Social Security Administration
$586 Billion - Department of Defense
$532.8 Billion (+$127 to $160 Billion for Iraq and Afghanistan) - Department of Education
$89.9 Billion (The states also have high budgets for education. Out of a $103 Billion California State Budget, $41.3 Billion went to education) - Department of Labor
$54.5 Billion - Department of Homeland Security
$41.1 Billion - Department of Housing and Urban Development
$28.5 Billion - NASA
$16.3 Billion
The average taxpayer pays NASA $55 per year, $1.06 per week, or 15 cents per day. The current NASA budget is 0.7% of the total federal budget. This is less than 1%.
Examples of Annual U.S. Consumer Waste
The Resources of which could be used to help the Poor, and Disadvantaged.
Limousine liberals criticize the money spent on space, stating that it could be better spent helping the poor. But they themselves maintain a high spending consumerist lifestyle, using their own scale of priorities.
- $31 Billion was recently spent on gifts for pets
- $20.3 Billion a year is currently spent on toys
- $31 Billion is spent on tobacco products
- $58 Billion is spent on alcohol
- $250 Billion is spent on alcohol and tobacco related diseases
NASA Spending doesn't destroy lives
A 1997 study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture was entitled, "Estimating and Addressing America's Food Losses".
In one year 162 Million tons of food were available for public consumption.
44 Million Tons of this was wasted by food retailers, consumers, and food service establishments. This was almost 30% of the total amount of food available.
Fruit, vegetables, milk, grain, sugar, and corn syrup was 2/3 of the food wasted. This food has a value of $31 Billion. The wasted food could feed 49 Million Americans. In 2005, there were 31 Million Americans living in poverty. It should also be noted that the majority of America's poor make it into the middle class within 10 years.
Currently 1/2 of the food is being wasted. This food is currently worth $100 Billion per year.
$20 Billion of food is wasted in the farm and processing sectors. $30 to $40 Billion is in the retail sector. America's households waste $43 Billion of food nationwide.
1971 MIDWEST RESEARCH INSTITUTE NASA ECONOMIC IMPACT STUDY
In 1958 dollars, NASA spent $25 Billion total on civilian space research and development, between 1958 and 1969.
From 1958 - 1969, NASA spending returned $52 Billion to the nation's economy.
The payoffs were projected to be $181 Billion, to the U.S. economy by 1987. The return on investment was 33%. Investment in space helped make America the number one technological superpower in the world.