FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
In honor of today's dreaded tax filing deadline - a whopping majority of Americans say the government wastes their tax dollars. No big surprise there.
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A new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll shows 74 percent of those surveyed say a lot of their tax money is wasted by the government, 23 percent say some of their tax dollars are misspent... and only three percent say not much is wasted.
This poll also finds that 50 percent of the public says the tax system is unfair, which isn't surprising when you consider that 47 percent of U.S. households won't pay federal income taxes this year. Not a single dime.
And, the survey shows a growing public frustration with taxes over the last couple decades... 40 percent say they're angry about the amount of taxes they pay... that number is up sharply from the 1980s... and is a big part of the message coming from the Tea Party folks.
But whether you're angry or not, you don't have a choice about it... nor do you get to choose where your tax money goes.
Federal income taxes represent the government's largest source of revenue - at more than $900 billion. This money is used to run the country - everything from national defense, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, to things like education, public safety and infrastructure.
Here’s my question to you: If you could choose, where would you want your tax dollars to go?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Nick writes:
I think the tax dollars just need to stay domestic. The billions we've wasted and continue to waste in Iraq and Afghanistan are a much bigger problem than any local pork spending. If it weren't for these pointless wars, we wouldn't be dealing with record deficits.
Jack in Florida writes:
If I was given my choice, I would have my taxes go to public financing of elections instead of our Supreme Court's choice of both foreign and domestic corporations controlling our elections. The Washington lobbyists could then stand on the unemployment line.
Joe writes:
It's not flashy, or profound, or even that interesting, but my choice would be to pay for the debt. What good would all the other projects be if we are being crushed by mounting debt? In my own life, when I get a raise or extra cash, I put most of that into paying my debt and when possible put away some for the future. Our freedom is intimately tied to our ability to manage our financial obligations.
Bob writes:
Education, education, education. We need a smarter electorate.
Cat writes:
I would like more money to go to policing the borders and removing the illegal menace.
Jeremy in Michigan writes:
The most important things the government should spend our money on are job stimulation (in more sectors than construction), and energy technology (which will also generate jobs). Those are the two reasons for the current crisis.
Dominick writes:
I want my taxes to continue going to support illegal aliens and their dozen kids, and for more foreign aid to ungrateful foreign nations that still despise us.
John in Louisiana writes:
I'd like my tax dollars to go to Jack Cafferty. Maybe then he would have enough money to retire!