Where Do Our Tax Dollars Go? The State by State Details

by Pythiian1 | February 16, 2009 at 09:21 am

1575 views | 81 Recommendations | 18 comments

What the United States government does, invariably comes down to money, and especially, in light of the latest economic stimulus package, given a recent discovery that the Federal government has overpaid the banks by $78 Billion under the previous TARP I, and the Congressional hearing on the eight CEOs whose banks have accepted and spent the TARP funds.

The public can now find their answers by reviewing Federal contracts, grants, and other awards given to each state of the union on USASpending.gov, which is a relaunch of FederalSpending.gov, that tracks these types of spending.

This resource was recently updated with new data as of Feb. 4. The following is an excerpt from the site:

Have you ever wanted to find more information on government spending? Have you ever wondered where federal contracting dollars and grant awards go? Or perhaps you would just like to know, as a citizen, what the government is really doing with your money. The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Transparency Act) requires a single searchable website, accessible by the public for free that includes for each Federal award:

1. The name of the entity receiving the award;
2. The amount of the award;
3. Information on the award including transaction type, funding agency, etc;
4. The location of the entity receiving the award;
5. A unique identifier of the entity receiving the award.

On the USASpending.gov, readers can narrow the search into any of these areas that reveal a wealth of information and insight into how and where the large chunks of federal dollars are being spent.

For example, let us check a quick rundown of the major Federal contracts awarded to each state of the union. Let us take a look at North Carolina, as the photo of a pie chart shows the allocations:

Federal assistance spent in North Carolina ; or

Contracts performed in North Carolina; or

Details of contracts performed in North Carolina; or

The details of Contract transactions from the National Institutes of Health, FY 2000 -2009

This website is invaluable to most journalists and the public to gain insights and details in the former's researching processes, and the latter's direct access to see where their tax dollars go. The source will provide the public the opportunities to determine whether or not their legislators are telling the truth whenever they complain about their states' budgets' lack of Federal supports.

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Rachel Nixon

at 10:28 on February 16th, 2009

Thanks for the post.

Pythiian1

at 10:44 on February 16th, 2009

Thank you Rachel for your read and recommendation. It's a really useful and informative tool for detailed research.

Rhonda J Mangus

at 10:54 on February 16th, 2009

Very useful information, Pythiian1. Thanks for posting!

Pythiian1

at 11:03 on February 16th, 2009

Thank you Rhonda for your read and recommendation. It does empower taxpayers to check the spending of each state's Federal dollars and will be able to hold the state government more accountable.

Amy Judd

at 14:52 on February 16th, 2009

This is really interesting and kind of fun to look at what is going on. Transparency is always good I think.

Pythiian1

at 15:48 on February 16th, 2009

Thank you Amy for your comment and recommendation. It is a cool tool to verify Federal funding and supports in particular state whenever politicians start to discuss funding in their states.

gmm (not verified)

at 15:58 on March 16th, 2009

Transparency is not always a good thing. Think it over.

djangofan

at 16:14 on February 16th, 2009

Unfortunately articles like this don't tell you the whole picture. For example, during 2008 the Federal Government got 500 billion dollars in kickbacks from the Federal Reserve bank system. Your graph doesn't show what happened to that money. 500 billion is enough to pay for the entire educational systems for 10 states.

Pythiian1

at 16:34 on February 16th, 2009

djangofan: The pie chart is about the state of North Carolina as clearly stated in my piece. The article is about the tool of transparency on the Federal dollars being spent in each state FY 2008.

My piece is not an investigative report, it is about a transparency tool.

Thank you.

djermano

at 16:30 on February 16th, 2009

Nobody really knows where our tax dollars go. How do we know money went to the banks? I think it goes to the military....because the military is who guards the banks. People do not have a direct say to where their tax money goes.. If they did.....we would really know where our tax dollars go.....Since I don't have a say, and don't know......I quit paying taxes...Let's see it is now going on 8 years.....

Rev. Jermano

Maireid Sullivan

at 17:02 on February 16th, 2009

This is good news!

Citizens should always have access to this information.

I have been wondering why the website www.formyworld.com doesn't exist anymore.

Here is the first paragraph of the website launch Press Release from 2001:

For Immediate Release
–04/30.2001–
ForMyWorld Site Provides Environmental Information for All Zipcodes–
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, Apr. 30 -/E-Wire/-- Environmental Defense and the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) today announced the launch of ForMyWorld (www.formyworld.com), a non-commercial web site that delivers detailed, zipcode specific environmental information for every community in America.

"ForMyWorld offers people across America facts and advice tailored specifically to their communities, so users can access information quite literally about their own backyards," said Environmental Defense executive director Fred Krupp.

ForMyWorld offers customized "Neighborhood Reports" with detailed local data. Each report contains ways to take action in your community to improve your environment. Users can receive reports on four different topics:

· Pollution studies levels of contaminants in local air, waters and soils, as well as local toxic manufacturing emissions; · Nature provides a detailed overview of native fauna, from indigenous birds to common area snakes, in addition to information on local natural recreation areas; · Recycling rounds-up area recycling centers for everything from junk mail to motor oil to used batteries; · Gardening supplies facts about native plants and monthly gardening tips.

Read the rest on the link above.

Pythiian1

at 17:44 on February 16th, 2009

Thank you Maireid for your comments, recommendation and information.

politisite

at 17:32 on February 16th, 2009

That is exactly why I am against GOP or DEM control of Banks, car companies, using trickle down economics by cutting out the business man an develop a huge bureaucratic system to distribute the money. The term Trickle down economics was actually first used during the Roosevelt administration by a political humorist. The question, what does government do well that the private sector cant do cheaper and better?

The Stimulus package is another gimmick to maximize gain, minimize pain..... But the pain still comes, and it will be worse then the former state.

BTW. your writing gets better and better

Pythiian1

at 17:45 on February 16th, 2009

Thank you Politisite for your comments and recommendation.

duo

at 22:31 on February 16th, 2009

Great information, Pythiian 1. The links you introduced to us yield good reference material. Thanks.

Mary

Pythiian1

at 08:52 on February 17th, 2009

Thank you, Mary, for your comments and recommendation.

Fred Miller

at 10:11 on February 17th, 2009

You are free from recommending or replying to my comment on this excellent piece of news about this positive development in America, and you are to be commmended for your work :-)