1. Military waste and fraud, $172 b./yr. Lawrence Korb, ex-Reagan military
planner, says the U.S. military could be the most overwhelmingly powerful
force for a mere $150 b. instead of the the $327 b. spent now for the armed
forces, Veterans Affairs, and DOE nuclear projects. From 1985-95, the
Defense Department "just lost" $13 b. and another $15 b. were unaccounted
for; from 1989-94, there were 85 instances of waste,fraud and abuse in
weapons contracting. Additional unnecessary projects Congress funded for
political reasons include: B-2 bomber, Seawolf submarine, V-22 Osprey,
C-17, F-22 fighter. The U.S. spends $80 b. on NATO, $59 b. on South Korea,
and $48 b. on the Persian Gulf.
2. Social Security tax inequities, $53 b./yr. If the wealthy paid payroll
taxes on all earned income instead of the first $62,000, overall taxes
could be reduced by $53 b.
3. Accelerated depreciation, $37 b./yr. Of the 250 largest corporations
in America, 25% paid no federal income tax between 1981-83. Accelerated
depreciation gives many corporations a major tax break.
4. Lower taxes on capital gians tax, not counting home sales, $37 b. 97%
of the benefit from the capital gains tax cut went to the richest 1%. Real
estate speculators can avoid capital gains taxes indefintely via 1031
exchanges.
5. S & L bailout, $32 b./yr. for 30 years.
6. Homeowner tax breaks, $26 b./yr. 40 million U.S. families rent and do
not get the five different federal tax breaks. One half of the deductions
go to people with greater than $100,000 a year income.
7. Agribusiness subsidies, $18 b./yr. 90% of all direct subsidies went
to the largest 18% of farms. 64% of all farmers received nothing at all. It
includes price supports, production quotas, market quotas, import
restrictions, deficiency payments, irrigation subsidies to Southern
Pacific, Chevron, Getty Oil, Shell Oil, and Prudential Insurance.
8. Tax avoidance by transnationals, $12 b./yr. Use of off shore tax
shelters and transfer pricing, credit for foreign taxes, and state and
local tax deductions from federal income.
9. Tax free muni bonds, $9.1 /yr.
10. Media handouts, $8 b./yr. radio and television spectra are given
free to broadcasters and deductions are allowed for advertisement.
11. Excessive government pensions, $7.6 b./yr. During the past 40 years,
Federal salaries have risen 25% faster private salaries.
12. Insurance loopholes, $7.2 b./yr. Corporate life insurance is tax free.
13. Nuclear subsidies, $7.1 b./yr. Includes insurance and research
subsidies, decommissioning and fuel enrichment programs.
14. Aviation subsidy, $5.5 b./yr.
15. Business meals and entertaining, $5.5b./yr.
16. Mining subsidies, $3.5 b./yr. Since 1872, $245 b. of minerals have been
taken from public lands with tax write-offs and no royalties.
17. Oil and gas tax breaks, $2.4 b./yr.
18. Export subsidies, $2 b./yr. Through the Overseas Private Investment
Corporation.
19. Synthetic fuel tax credits, $1.2 b./yr.
20. Timber subsidies, $427 m./yr. Not including tax breaks.
21. Additional government programs, $1.874 b./yr. Includes ozone tax break,
commercial shipping subsidies, fuel efficiency and advanced tech subsidies.
22. Cut rate electricity subsidies, $2 b./yr.
TOTAL COSTS = $432 b./yr.
Additional costs not includes in this estimate include: 1) state and local
corporate welfare; 2) white collar crime, $20 b./yr., fraud, defective
products, and monopolistic practices. Does not include medical system fraud
which exceeds $250 b./ yr.; 3) on the job accidents and occupational
diseases kill 56,000 a year and 28,000 die from dangerous or defective
products, 130,000 are injured; 3) interest deductions on corporate taxes
cost $200 b./yr. And 4) total government spending on car related costs
comes to $300 b./yr.