BUDGET EXPLAINER: Senate Republicans Reach for Historic Levels of Militarized Spending at the Expense of Human Needs

Feb. 12, 2025

Senate Republicans are aiming to cut federal spending on social services while increasing the budget by at least $346 billion over the next four years ($86.5 billion annually) to fund the Pentagon and a disastrous and cruel mass deportation plan. Policymakers must step up to help struggling families, not tear families apart while enriching corporations and billionaires at the expense of working people. 

A Moral Budget vs. A War Budget

Dec. 20, 2021

These two bills represent diametrically opposed views of how to address the challenges of our time: a moral budget vs a war budget. Congress: Which side are you on?

Peace Groups Urge Support for the PRO Act

March 30, 2021

Washington, DC. — On March 30, the National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy Studies joined 20 other leading peace and justice organizations in delivering a letter to U.S. Senators in support of H.R. 842, the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, in solidarity with workers demanding expanded labor rights.

Also Includes:

• PRO Act Letter from Peace Groups

Poverty Amidst Pandemic Explainer

Sept. 25, 2020

 In 2017, 140 million people in the United States were living in poverty or on the verge of poverty using this measure. With everything changed since 2019, and official poverty measures for 2020 still far in the future, we asked: what has become of the 140 million during the pandemic?  

Poor People’s Campaign State Fact Sheets

Feb. 20, 2020

Learn more about the interlocking evils of systemic racism, poverty, militarism/the war economy, ecological devastation, and the distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism in your state!

Poor People's Moral Budget: Everybody Has the Right to Live

June 17, 2019

In the seven sections of the Moral Budget, we look at policies and investments for seven critical areas of the Poor People’s Moral Agenda.

Also Includes:

• Poor People's Moral Budget: Full Report
• Poor People's Moral Budget: Key Findings
• In Search of True Security: Rebalancing the Pentagon Budget

Tax Day 2019

April 11, 2019

Tax Day is April 15, 2019. Want to know what your taxes pay for, and who pays what?

Also Includes:

• Tax Day 2019 Notes and Sources
• Tax Day 2019 Social Media Toolkit
• Where Your Tax Dollar Was Spent in 2018
• Seven Surprising Tax Facts for 2019

Souls of Poor Folk

April 10, 2018

The Souls of Poor Folk is an assessment of the conditions and trends of poverty today and of the past fifty in the United States. 

Tax Day 2018

March 22, 2018

Tax Day is April 17, 2017. Want to know what your taxes pay for, and who pays what?

Also Includes:

• Tax Day 2018 Notes and Sources
• Tax Day 2018 Social Media Toolkit
• Seven Surprising Tax Facts for 2018

The Souls of Poor Folk: A Preliminary Report

Dec. 4, 2017

To support this modern-day Poor People’s Campaign, the Institute for Policy Studies has produced an analysis of the campaign’s four core issues: racism, poverty, the war economy/militarism, and ecological destruction.