How will the United States choose to respond to instability in Iraq, where ISIS is at the center of renewed conflict?

As the flags wave, the fireworks fly, and AAA forecasts that 41 million Americans will travel more than 50 miles from home this Independence Day weekend, a transportation crisis is in the works. The Highway Trust Fund – the federal fund that’s used to repair our highways and bridges – is about to run out of money by the end of the summer.

With Independence Day this week, Americans are celebrating all the things that make our country great. A patriotic mindset begs the question of how our involvement in conflicts overseas – like responding to crisis in Iraq – defines our country’s priorities.

NPP welcomes new research director Lindsay Koshgarian.

What’s the cost of the Iraq war to taxpayers in your town? If you could reallocate those tax dollars, what would you buy instead? NPP's easy-to-use, localizable federal budget data can answer these questions and many more.

A note from NPP's new executive director Doug Hall.

 In 12 short weeks, NPP and Peace Action has visited 4 states and reached more than 60 participants with our groundbreaking "Move the Money" trainings, encouraging local communities to engage in the federal budget process, learn about current spending priorities, and develop strategies for how to change them.

Over the past decade, American taxpayers have sunk more than $816 billion into funding the war in Iraq. 

We recently re-launched a major portion of our website, organizing our federal budget research content into eight issue areas. This week, we bring you key highlights on military and security spending.

Here's one way we could help Millenials attain higher education without burgeoning student loan debt.