War Tax Resisters will post this graphic online for Tax Day (April 15).

Or take a picture of themselves with a sign! Photo by Ed Hedemann.

The proposed federal budget for fiscal year 2021 aims to take our country in the wrong direction. Noticeably missing in Trump’s $3.5 trillion proposed budget is any mention of funding to combat climate change. Additionally, the Environmental Protection Agency would face a 26% decrease in funding with 50 programs facing elimination. This is worsened by the fact the U.S. military is the number one institutional user of oil in the world, burning about 240,000 barrels of oil each day. The U.S. military can afford to exert this environmental harm because approximately 50% of federal income taxes are directed to past, present, and future military spending.

“Where You Income Tax Money Really Goes” War Resister League Pie Chart

This massive proposed budget also includes about $2 trillion in cuts to safety net programs like Medicaid, student loan programs, federal housing assistance, food stamps, and federal disability insurance.

This is all in addition to increased funding for the militarized Custom and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which terrorize our immigrant communities with raids and inhumanely separating families. Additionally, the Department of Defense has already transferred $4.3 billion in military equipment to local law enforcement agencies. Militarized police are deployed more in Black, brown, and indigenous neighborhoods and often act like an occupying army.

Often forgotten is the growing use of drone warfare. According the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, there were 1,878 drone strikes during Obama’s eight years in office. During Trump’s first three years in office, there have been 11,760 drone strikes. Since 2002, there have been 8,850 to 16,800 drone deaths, including 900 to 2,200 civilian deaths.

The explicit focus of federal income taxes being utilized for the killing of human beings and the destruction of the environment while programs to address human needs face steep cuts is unacceptable.