Congress wants taxpayers to know how much they spend on war

[rug]

By: Leo Shane III, December 18, 2016

Congress wants every taxpayer to know just how much of their money went to wars over the last 15 years.

Tucked into the annual defense authorization bill -- expected to become law in coming days -- is a provision requiring the Defense Secretary and Internal Revenue Service Commissioner to post online all of the costs, “including the relevant legacy costs, to each American taxpayer of each of the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria.”

The information will be posted on the IRS web site after being compiled with help from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., the lawmaker behind the effort, said he hopes it spurs conversation among the public about the costs of war.

“It’s important for people to know how much we’re spending on wars,” he told reporters last week. “It’s my hope that people will make contact with their elected representatives and say we should spend more on peace, less on violence and war.

http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/ndaa-cost-war-report-taxpayers

John Lewis is the only human being in Washington I trust without hesitation.

[Wounded Bear]

1. Kind of surprising it snuck through...

informing the populace is hardly high on Repub agendas.

[shraby]

2. They probably don't even read the bills, just vote in lockstep with a republican bill.

The bill authorized spending for defense, so it would have been a republican bill since they dominate congress.