April 15. Tax Day. Woohoo! (Sometimes it helps to cheer things you might not like.) Although all most many people are not looking forward to today, it has come nonetheless, as it does every year. And while you really can't avoid paying taxes each year, you can do something today to learn more about what those tax dollars are being spent on. Ordinarily this would be a difficult project involving sifting through budget books and deciphering complex spending tables. Luck for you the National Priorities Project (NPP) is on the job. 

NPP has released a new report called: Where Do Your Tax Dollars Go? - Tax Day 2009. This is a great resource that allows you to generate an easy to understand snapshot of how an average family's tax dollars were spent in 2008. The reports are only two pages and quite digestible. NPP describes the release on their website:

With this publication, taxpayers can take stock of how the federal government spent each 2008 income tax dollar: 37.3 cents went towards military-related spending (military and military-related debt), while environment, energy and science-related spending split 2.8 cents. Income tax dollar spending is available for all states as well as over 200 cities and towns.

So, while you may continue to bemoan paying your taxes today, take a few minutes and jump on NPP's website and figure out exactly why you are so pissed about paying those taxes in the first place.

National Priorities Project: Where Do Your Tax Dollars Go? - Tax Day 2009