Fun Ways To See How Your Tax Money Is Spent: Google's Data Viz Challenge (VIDEO)

With Tax Day winding down, wrapping your head around how the government uses your tax dollars can seem impossible.

Thanks to a collaboration between Google and non-profit art and technology site Eyebeam.org, however, that doesn't have to be the case. Dubbing their venture the Data Viz Challenge, the two companies asked designers and developers across the country to develop innovative ways of visualizing how our hard-earned tax dollars are spent, based on data provided by the site whatwepayfor.com.

Ever wondered how many of your tax dollars went to Social Security in the form of Chipotle burritos? You can find out at canigetareceiptwiththat.com. Want to know how much of your average working day is spent making money that will eventually go to the Department of Agriculture? Everyday Is Tax Day can tell you. Another entry allowed you to see a day-by-day breakdown of how your earnings are used, and one site even presented the information like a cityscape, allowing you to explore your tax contributions like a Manhattan city block.

In the end, though, it was the clean, elegant design of Anil Kandangath's site Where Did My Tax Dollars Go? that took home the $5,000 grand prize. Perhaps less gimmicky than some other entries, Kandangath's site relied on a basic idea: displaying information meaningfully and clearly:

Below is Google's video showing the results of the the Data Viz Challenge:

Comments

[PhilipTaylor]

05:34 AM on 06/17/2011

"Our tragedy today is a general and universal physical fear so long sustained by now that we can even bear it. There are no longer problems of the spirit. There is only one question: When will I be blown up?"

William Faulkner NOBEL ACCEPTANCE SPEECH

[PhilipTaylor]

05:31 AM on 06/17/2011

“A Native American grandfather talking to his young grandson tells the boy he has two wolves inside of him struggling with each other. The first is the wolf of peace, love and kindness. The other wolf is fear, greed and hatred. "Which wolf will win, grandfather?" asks the young boy. "Whichever one I feed," is the reply.”

  Native American Proverb quotes

[PhilipTaylor]

05:23 AM on 06/17/2011

BUDGET RESULTS:

1. Deficit Reduction of $5.6 Trillion
2. Primary spending cuts of $869 Billion
3. Net interest savings of $856 Billion
4. Total spending cuts of $1.7 Trillion
5. Revenue increase of $3.9 Trillion
6. Public investment of $1.7 Trillion
7. Budget surplus of $30.7 Billion in 2021
 
ACHIEVE USING 2011 PROGRESSIVE BUDGET:
 
1. Eliminate Bush Tax Cuts
2. Eliminates all Wars - Brings Our Troops Home
3. Implements FAIR TAX SYSTEM with fair tax brackets for millionaires/billion­aires
4. Insures healthy Medicare and Social Security
5. Insures healthy Medicaid
6. Puts America Back to Work
7. Restores America’s Competitiveness
8. Rebuilds our roads and bridges
9. Rebuild our dams and waterways 
10. Improves shipping systems to compete worldwide
11. Builds educational system by training more and better teachers
12. Teachers to help each student learn and graduate
13. Expand and support community colleges
14. Ensures banks pay a modest financial responsibility fee for exotic trading
15. Guarantees hedge fund managers and clients pay same taxes as other 98%
16. Eliminates charity/we­lfare to oil companies w/record profits on backs Americans 
17. Tax US corporate income like Americans pay now
18. Makes America safer by reducing Offensive Actions and increasing Diplomacy
19. Invests in Green energy development

Simply remove $106,800 CAP on FICA Withholding

REMOVE GEITHNER MISTAKE of 33% reduction in FICA WITHOLDING

RYAN = MORE SOCIALIST UNEARNED WELFARE TO $BILLIONAIRES - HIS SPONSORS - AT THE EXPENSE OF GRANNY!

America is GREAT AGAIN!
 
http://grijalva.house.gov/uploads/The%20CPC%20FY2012%20Budget.pdf

[XPat Lib]

08:01 AM on 04/20/2011

In regard to how Social Security affects the National Debt - and how we, the common people, are continually kept in the dark about it - I would like to offer the following web site that might help explain things: http://www.justfacts.com/news.impactSS.asp

Lots of smoke and mirrors.

[spkninglsh]

12:58 AM on 04/20/2011

Man, I was sure the Cinco De Mayo party was going to be the biggest piece of the pie.

[msbeal]

05:47 PM on 04/19/2011

That circle graph won an award? Really? Despite it being horribly inaccurate, misleading and reeking of an agenda?

Why is Social Security being shown as a 'tax'?

I'm not familiar with 'income security'. Anybody know what that is?

[lrobb]

10:45 PM on 04/19/2011

Tax expenditures are everything you pay to the federal government including payroll taxes--Social Security.

Of course it is a tax. We tax the present generation to support the previous one. There is no "lock box." The government has borrowed social security revenues since inception--which is a darned sight better than borrowing from the Chinese.

[Genders]

02:30 AM on 04/20/2011

SS is a complete separate self funding program

It's no different than fractional banking, is it?

[msbeal]

02:43 AM on 04/20/2011

Yes, I know. I did some personal research on SS.

The thing is if you're going to run a nation wide retirement annuity program how would you invest all the dough you collect? The only thing that make rational sense is to invest it in the safest investment vehicle there is, which right now is T-bills. [At least that used to be the safest. Not so sure anymore.]

So can you fault SS for doing the prudent thing? It's not SS fault the country's finances have been so poorly managed over the last ten years.

I guess the cost of the Empire has caught up to us. The only thing that makes sense these days is a fully stocked cabin in Montana.

[tAX gURU]

02:20 PM on 04/19/2011

Cute chart doesn't really explain anything though. Taxpayer would also get an exemption of $3,650 for 2010. If I made $25,000 in dividends and $25,000 in long-term capital gains for a total of $50,000, my tax would be $998 for 2010. That's right, if I make my money investing rather than working, I pay less than one-sixth in income tax as a work.

[lrobb]

02:29 PM on 04/19/2011

Can you explain your result?

Your taxable income would be $46,350. At that amount both long term capital gains and dividends are taxed at 15%. 15% of $46,350 is $6,952. That is still less than the $11,587 (25%) you would pay on earned income.

[tAX gURU]

02:48 PM on 04/19/2011

If qualifying dividends(like ExxonMobil) and long-term capital gains from stock sales income is $50,000 less standard deduction 5,700 less exemption 3,650=taxable income of $40,650. However if you use the qualified dividend and capital gain worksheet(find one on www.irs.gov and try it yourself), you'll find that your first $34,000 are taxed at 0%. So 6,650 at 15% is $998. If you're earning a wage, the first $34,000 is not taxed at 0%.

[pompous]

02:15 PM on 04/19/2011

This is a very poorly done chart. The defense budget is large and combined with Veteran's administration. Defense and Veteran's administration are separate but related expenses seeing as the Defense department generates veterans. Second the official budget does not account for the supplemental or emergency spending for the military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq thus raising the actual percentage of the budget and will eventually transition from indirect costs into direct costs. Combine this with the George Bush tax cuts and their extension and one has a very sobering sense of the wrath of the Bush doctrine. The GOP are actively villainizing social programs in an effort to weaken them beyond recognition in the hopes that we will forget the sobering reality of what military glory has really cost.

[grilledturbot]

01:25 PM on 04/19/2011

Soon that pie chart will be totally dominated by Obamacare. Does transparency have a color?

[jaredbrain]

01:57 PM on 04/19/2011

i'd rather be paying for health care for americans than nation building in the middle east and corporate subsidies for billionaires, so heck yeah bring on Obamacare!

[tAX gURU]

02:52 PM on 04/19/2011

How?

[Foxranger]

03:29 PM on 04/19/2011

Agree, ObamaCare will overall reduce our costs in HealthCare spending. Go to Healthcare.gov and get the facts and stop believing the lies.

[codycap]

02:46 PM on 04/19/2011

Hey

We are not happy with it either, it is a Republican plan. Just ask Romney. Its the best you guys would allow.

http://www.blackagendareport.com/?q=content/top-ten-ways-tell-your-president-his-party-arent-fighting-health-care-everybody by Bruce A. Dixon

A single payer Medicare-For-All system will eliminate 500,000 insurance company jobs and replace them with 3.2 million new jobs in health care for a net gain of 2.6 million new jobs according to a study by the National Nurses Organization. That's as many jobs as the US economy lost in all of 2007.

Single payer will create hundreds of billions in annual wages and local and state tax revenues for cash strapped cities and towns. It will lift the shadow of bankruptcy for medical reasons from two thirds of a million American families yearly.

Dr. David Himmelstein of Harvard and PNHP states that having everyone on single payer would save at least $350 B per year, and latest reports say $400 B per year. --Comprehensive, no deductibles, no co-pays, no rescissions. Oh, prescriptions included.

What's not to like?

Oh, yeah, the Big Insurance Parasites lose their ability to suck wealth out of the populace. Some pols lose big contributors.

[grilledturbot]

03:52 PM on 04/19/2011

who is 'you guys' ? He, BHO, has made a farce of his signature program. I know, he wants his plaque or statue, but I want him to leave my healthcare (which is not broken) alone. And he has no rights to it, except he has much support from left leaners to drift towards the socialist crown jewel of single payer, which doesn't look like it's working well anywhere in the world where it's being done. Here's what I love, how dems spin it as a "cost saver" which is complete garbage. You said 500,000 insurance company jobs lost and would be replaced by 3.2 million new jobs in health care. What kind of jobs? According to the Nurses Organization? Thats roughly 6 times as many jobs and it will "save" money. Ha! More fantasy talk from folks that are pulling out all the stops, and all the lies, to attempt to convince America that the cost of healthcare will go down and quality will go up with government intervention. That wouldn't happen if the gov't were administering this program pro bono! Don't forget to look at the resume before deciding which is the best candidate. Your choices: the best medical expertise in the world, OR the US gov't who can't presently seem to run themselves out of a wet paper bag. Are you going to trust this bunch with your health?

[lrobb]

01:14 PM on 04/19/2011

How did interest get to be such a huge part of our budget? Simple.

To put it in perspective, we are like a family with an income of $46,000 and $72,000 in expenses.

Every year they have been putting $26,000 on their Visa card--which has no limit--to make ends meet, and now the balance is $282,000.

(Amounts are exactly proportional to Federal income, expenditures and debt.)

Mom says Dad has to get a second job, Junior take on a paper route and Sis wait tables a couple of nights a week. They are horrified. They point out they are too tired and already have job/school responsibilities.

Dad says Mom just has to quit spending. Mom says, "Fine. We will all have to stop eating."

Just when they think the bank holding the credit card might not have noticed they are racking up this humoungous balance they get a letter from the credit card company asking for a financial statement. After which it tells the family they must either bring their spending and earnings into allignment and start paying down the balance or the card will be cancelled.

That would be precisely our situation as a country right this minute.

[go2goal]

01:32 PM on 04/19/2011

The debt was run up to pay for the unfunded wars.....at least 80% of it. So 80% of the debt service cost is really military spending....the financing of the still 2 unfunded and hugely expensive wars of Iraq & Afghanistan....and now Libya as well.

Wars are expensive...especially when they are paid for with tax cuts for the rich.

[lrobb]

01:55 PM on 04/19/2011

It is completely immaterial at this point why the debt was run up. Assigning blame--and there is enough to go around for all political parties--is not the same as fixing the problem.

If you are diving 100 feet down and something slices through your air supply, you don't spend the next twenty minutes trying to figure out what made the cut.

I just attended a Town Hall held by an extremely conservative freshman SC Representative who is dead-serious about cutting the deficit. He stated in no uncertain terms that, for him, the Defense budget was also on the chopping block and we most certainly had to completely revise our tax codes. Not necessarily in favor of the rich.

There are a few rational legislators out there, but they are the ones who are committed to telling their constituents the truth even if it is unpleasant and might cause them to be unelected. As mine said, "I haven't been in DC long enough to stop being a normal human."

[Kelly Nickell]

05:35 PM on 04/19/2011

An economy that builds things that get blown up, is a crummy way to build a lasting economy.

I don't think we have a debt or deficit problem, I think we have a "lot of people don't want to pay" problem.

I often wonder what happens when the US government cuts gobs of spending and simply stops buying, purchasing, paying wages, whatever - will the people that got that money before simply be absorbed by Walmart, or what? I really don't see how the government can cut spending and solve any problems here. Was all that tax revenue just sent out to Nevada, whereas it was buried, burned, or destroyed, because that's what governments do with your taxes?

Of course I pop out of my little daydream now and then and remember the pallets of cash carried into Iraq to set up the next free-market economy to beat all economies, worked out nice for China I suppose.

I keep asking my friends that are taxed too much what they're willing to give up. Multiply that list by say 300,000,000 people and try to build a rational budget, or something that's fair. Easy to say in a few lines, difficult to actually do.

Cancelling the credit card right now, for this country, doesn't really apply here, at all. We need bigger, better thought than a bunch that wants our country run like a business, complains about it's "socialistic" tendencies, then runs down their employer for the term of the job.

[jaredbrain]

01:57 PM on 04/19/2011

and not raising the debt ceiling is equivalent to not paying that card even though we can, and then having our credit rating hurt.

[lrobb]

02:02 PM on 04/19/2011

Right now the government pays its bills on a first in, first out system. Raising the debt ceiling can be postponed several months by simply paying the interest first and everything else after.

This gives more time to negotiate a compromise than the general public is being told.

[ThinkFree111]

12:41 PM on 04/19/2011

Define Hypocrit. One who tells everyone else that the wealthy need to pay more who is wealthy himself and pays less. Top tax rate 35% for those making 200,000. Obama paid 28% and Biden paid 27% in taxes this year thanks to write offs, deductions and loopholes.

[chef151]

12:54 PM on 04/19/2011

FACEPALM
Try to more (free) thinking about the term 'marginal tax rate'. Or just use the googles.

[ThinkFree111]

01:08 PM on 04/19/2011

Super User the other useless meat. I just may know a thing or two about marginal tax rates. The point is both the President's and Vice President's accountants took advantage of every possible deduction and loophole to reduce their adjusted gross income and reduce their tax burden. They are both very wealthy, but still allow their accountants to reduce the amount they pay in taxes, then turn around and scold other wealthy folks to do their fair share.

[jaredbrain]

01:59 PM on 04/19/2011

I tell you what, when we start electing people who aren't millionaires, you can criticize the President for being a millionaire.
What did W pay? What did Cheney? What did Romney? What did Trump?

For that matter, at least our guys are paying their taxes, unlike the corporate overlords that dominate the GOP

[BabaLou7]

12:23 PM on 04/19/2011

Where's Black Ops? That would be the WHOLE PIE - another shadow pie that is robbing us of the high quality life we all could share.

[DesperateAmateurs]

11:50 AM on 04/19/2011

How much in taxes did B of A pay??? Zero.

[unionave]

11:42 AM on 04/19/2011

Two things not in this bogus chart is retirement savings and insurance . Money put in annuities is considered savings (money for retirement) . Wall Street peddles annuities and collects fees and pays management bonuses .

Social Security is also an annuity savings account (money for retirement) and does not collect fees or pay management bonuses . Which makes it a lot cheaper than the Wall Street stuff .

Medicare is a health insurance managed by the government (we the people) . It does not give managers enormous bonuses or pay managers enormous salaries and it's premiums are a fraction of any of Wall Street's peddlers premiums .

So the question is : If what we are paying Wall Street peddlers not considered taxes , why is the money we are paying "we the peoples" managers considered taxes ? Both are doing exactly the same thing .

As we can all see , without Social Security or Medicare Wall Street would reign supreme and be free to gouge with impunity . No competition ! But wait , isn't that what Wall Street is doing now ?

This chart has flimflam written all over it and smells more like the Republican paranoia express .

[lrobb]

12:24 PM on 04/19/2011

Your reply reminds me of the famous Robert Heinlein quote:

"When in danger or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout."

These charts are compiled by Google, not FOX. I have seen many of them used in The Nation--hardly a right-wing bastion.

The problem is very, very real, but most politicians are far more interested in getting re-elected than telling their constituents the unvarnished truth.

[msbeal]

05:52 PM on 04/19/2011

I don't think he was complaining about the USE of a circle graph. Just the use of one to promote lies and deception like this one does.

[alteredstory]

10:26 AM on 04/19/2011

One thing that's glossed over here is that social security, and a could others are technically separate from income tax. The only reason that's important is that the military takes 50-60% of the nation's income tax revenue every year (it's been going up, so I don't recall the exact number), leaving the rest to go for roads, schools, and so on.