---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: According to the National Priorities…"
description: "\"According to the National Priorities Project, military expenditures are 54% of the budget. The next biggest line item is 7%. And there are a whole bunc..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fe/jill-stein-660_budgets_according-to-the-national-priorities-pro_1525582.jpg"
---

#  According to the National Priorities Project, military…

![“According to the National Priorities Project, military expenditures are 54% of the budget. The next biggest line item is 7%. And there are a whole bunch of 7 percents. So in short, we have a military budget surrounded by a lot of footnotes. This is not serving us well.” quote by Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fe/jill-stein-660_budgets_according-to-the-national-priorities-pro_1525582.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fe/jill-stein-660_budgets_according-to-the-national-priorities-pro_1525582.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fe/jill-stein-660_budgets_according-to-the-national-priorities-pro_1525582.jpg)

> “According to the National Priorities Project, military expenditures are 54% of the budget. The next biggest line item is 7%. And there are a whole bunch of 7 percents. So in short, we have a military budget surrounded by a lot of footnotes. This is not serving us well.”

[Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Military spending dominates the budget, with many smaller items hidden, indicating fiscal imbalance and misallocation.

**In simple terms:** Military budget is huge compared to others.

Key Takeaway

Advocate for budget reallocation.

Themes

politics budget military spending

Mood

concerned urgent

Type

political activist

When to use this quote

- Town hall meetings
- policy debates
- budget analysis

Key Concepts

Fiscal priorities public policy

Questions to Reflect On

- What are the consequences of such spending?
- How can citizens influence budget decisions?

A Different Perspective

Complex budget details may oversimplify reality.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Budget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/budget/) [Budget Biggest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/budget-biggest-5648549/) [Budgets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/budgets/) [Bunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bunch/) [Expenditures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expenditures/) [Footnotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/footnotes/) [Items](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/items/) [Lines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lines/) [Military](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/military/) [Military budget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/military-budget/) [Military Expenditures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/military-expenditures-455739/) [Next](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/next/) [Pentagon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pentagon/) [Percent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/percent/) [Priorities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/priorities/) [Projects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/projects/) [Serving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/serving/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) [Whole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whole/)

## Related quotes

> [One needs to redistribute and restructure expenditures in favour of infrastructure, education and so on. Such military expenditures are heavy to carry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-siluanov/one-needs-to-redistribute-and-restructure-expenditures-in-favour-of/)

[Anton Siluanov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-siluanov/)

> [ What chiefly governs the \[U.S.\] military budget is the need to spend enormous sums of money in a useless way. The allegedly powerful Pentagon… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-karp/what-chiefly-governs-the-u-s-military-budget-is-the-need-to-spend/)

[Walter Karp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-karp/)

> [In just one year, the expenditure of of the U.S.'s military budget is equivalent to the entire 50-year running budget of NASA combined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/in-just-one-year-the-expenditure-of-of-the-u-s-s-military-budget-is/)

[Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/)

> [While things on the surface seem more quiet than at any time since last summer, I do not like the maintenance of what amounts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-d-roosevelt/while-things-on-the-surface-seem-more-quiet-than-at-any-time-since/)

[Franklin D. Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-d-roosevelt/)

> [A ten per cent reduction in military expenditures per year would be reasonable, coupled with a programme of retraining the workforce and redirecting the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-maurice-de-zayas/a-ten-per-cent-reduction-in-military-expenditures-per-year-would-be/)

[Alfred-Maurice de Zayas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-maurice-de-zayas/)

> [U.S. analysts estimate that Russian military expenditures have tripled during the Bush-Putin years, in large measure a predicted reaction to the Bush administration's militancy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/u-s-analysts-estimate-that-russian-military-expenditures-have-tripled/)

[Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/)

> [Meanwhile, the U.S. debt remains, as it has been since 1790, a war debt; the United States continues to spend more on its military…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-graeber/meanwhile-the-u-s-debt-remains-as-it-has-been-since-1790-a-war-debt/)

[David Graeber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-graeber/)

> [ Both \[Donald\] Trump and Hillary \[Clinton\] want bigger military budgets and Hillary supports President Obama's one trillion dollar expenditure to so-called upgrade nuclear weapons.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-nader/both-donald-trump-and-hillary-clinton-want-bigger-military-budgets/)

[Ralph Nader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-nader/)

> [“By 2001, even the peacetime US military budget was well over half the size of all other military budgets in the world combined.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-maddow/by-2001-even-the-peacetime-us-military-budget-was-well-over-half-the/)

[Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-maddow/)

> [The military budget is simply an enormous pork barrel of special privilege, the privileges taking the form of windfall profits, of no-risk profits and,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-karp/the-military-budget-is-simply-an-enormous-pork-barrel-of-special/)

[Walter Karp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-karp/)

> [The budget for nuclear forces in the United States is on the order of $25 billion or so. That includes warheads, delivery systems, command…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burroughs/the-budget-for-nuclear-forces-in-the-united-states-is-on-the-order-of/)

[John Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burroughs/)

> [“The Department of Defense is the largest, most complex organization on the planet: three million people, civilian and military, with a budget, the last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-gates/the-department-of-defense-is-the-largest-most-complex-organization-on/)

[Robert M. Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-gates/)

> [The other piece of this is that we call for cutting our bloated and dangerous military budget. And this is something that is made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/the-other-piece-of-this-is-that-we-call-for-cutting-our-bloated-and/)

[Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/)

> [If my campaign is not in the debate, we will not be talking about how we really fix this problem of endless and expanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/if-my-campaign-is-not-in-the-debate-we-will-not-be-talking-about-how/)

[Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/)

> [“Mueller and Stewart estimate that expenditures on domestic homeland security (i.e., not counting the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan) have increased by more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-greenwald/mueller-and-stewart-estimate-that-expenditures-on-domestic-homeland/)

[Glenn Greenwald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-greenwald/)

## More by Jill Stein

> [If my campaign is not in the debate, we will not be talking about how we really fix this problem of endless and expanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/if-my-campaign-is-not-in-the-debate-we-will-not-be-talking-about-how/)

[Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/)

> [I was very engaged by the folk music movement.Bob Dylan; Joan Baez; Peter, Paul and Mary. And then I sort of discovered world music,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/i-was-very-engaged-by-the-folk-music-movement-bob-dylan-joan-baez/)

[Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/)

> [According to a recent Harvard study, $6 trillion, when you include the ongoing healthcare expenses for our wounded soldiers, which is the least they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/according-to-a-recent-harvard-study-6-trillion-when-you-include-the/)

[Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/)

> [I wouldn't say it's a done deal yet, by any means. I think there are a lot of people who feel like their lives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/i-wouldn-t-say-it-s-a-done-deal-yet-by-any-means-i-think-there-are-a/)

[Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/)

> [To my mind, to say that says to young people "and you probably are not going to get out of debt, and you probably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/to-my-mind-to-say-that-says-to-young-people-and-you-probably-are-not/)

[Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/)

> [For ISIS, the answer is to cut off their food, their water, their armaments, you know, and their funding. I don't mean literally their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/for-isis-the-answer-is-to-cut-off-their-food-their-water-their/)

[Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/)

> [ They \[Democrats\] are not just going up, they are accelerating on their way up. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/they-democrats-are-not-just-going-up-they-are-accelerating-on-their/)

[Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/)

> [I don't want to revisit history or try to re-interpret it, you know, but starting from where we are now, given the experience that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/i-don-t-want-to-revisit-history-or-try-to-re-interpret-it-you-know/)

[Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/)

> [I am not an expert on the Clinton Foundation, so, you know, I don't want to pass judgment on it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/i-am-not-an-expert-on-the-clinton-foundation-so-you-know-i-don-t-want/)

[Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/)

> [ He \[Donald Trump\] is like - he's a magnet for crime and extortion and, you know, just really criminal investments which are extremely dangerous. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/he-donald-trump-is-like-he-s-a-magnet-for-crime-and-extortion-and-you/)

[Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/)

> [ By needlessly provoking him \[Vladimir Putin\] and humiliating him, we empower far worse possibilities in Russia. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/by-needlessly-provoking-him-vladimir-putin-and-humiliating-him-we/)

[Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/)

> [We will not really address our foreign policy and these endless wars that show no end in sight and seem to be getting deeper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/we-will-not-really-address-our-foreign-policy-and-these-endless-wars/)

[Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/)

> [ Remember, Bernie \[Sanders\] was the guy. He was the one guy that could win this, and head-to-head he could go against \[Donald\] Trump and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/remember-bernie-sanders-was-the-guy-he-was-the-one-guy-that-could-win/)

[Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/)

> [Democracy needs to start with an open Presidential debate. So come on out and let's take back the promise of our democracy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/democracy-needs-to-start-with-an-open-presidential-debate-so-come-on/)

[Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/)

> [Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are the most disliked and untrusted candidates for president in American history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/hillary-clinton-and-donald-trump-are-the-most-disliked-and-untrusted/)

[Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/)

[Explore all 423 Jill Stein quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/)

## More Budget quotes

> [I don't like just traveling in for a short time. I've done that before, because sometimes you work for magazines and they have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-sacco/i-don-t-like-just-traveling-in-for-a-short-time-i-ve-done-that-before/)

[Joe Sacco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-sacco/)

> [When we stop running up huge budget deficits and start acting responsibly in Washington, we will provide small-business owners with the certainty they need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-graves/when-we-stop-running-up-huge-budget-deficits-and-start-acting/)

[Sam Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-graves/)

> [Many developing nations have such severe debt and budget problems that the money given by developed nations will never be spent the way it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-grenell/many-developing-nations-have-such-severe-debt-and-budget-problems/)

[Richard Grenell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-grenell/)

> [We will make government more accountable. We will cut fraud, waste and abuse in our budget. But we will not do it by leaving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-e-james/we-will-make-government-more-accountable-we-will-cut-fraud-waste-and/)

[John E. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-e-james/)

> [Defense spending as a share of the economy dropped significantly during the early 1990s, and that was one of the things, along with other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-orszag/defense-spending-as-a-share-of-the-economy-dropped-significantly/)

[Peter Orszag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-orszag/)

> [I firmly believe that if members of Congress fail to perform their most basic duty in passing a budget, then they do not deserve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-schrader/i-firmly-believe-that-if-members-of-congress-fail-to-perform-their/)

[Kurt Schrader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-schrader/)

> [They offered me $1,500 to do a week of 'The Golden Girls.' Can you imagine that? A big show with a big budget, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soupy-sales/they-offered-me-1-500-to-do-a-week-of-the-golden-girls-can-you/)

[Soupy Sales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soupy-sales/)

> [In my mid-20s I worked at the White House Office of Management and Budget.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-hoover/in-my-mid-20s-i-worked-at-the-white-house-office-of-management-and/)

[Margaret Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-hoover/)

> ['The Librarians' is a show that really needs to have ten days, but we shoot it in seven, so the workload is really tremendous,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noah-wyle/the-librarians-is-a-show-that-really-needs-to-have-ten-days-but-we/)

[Noah Wyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noah-wyle/)

> [In a budget this massive, there are certainly areas where I think we could do much better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mac-thornberry/in-a-budget-this-massive-there-are-certainly-areas-where-i-think-we/)

[Mac Thornberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mac-thornberry/)

> [As soon as you're at the higher levels of budgeting, you've got to get the film made, and the only way to support the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ridley-scott/as-soon-as-you-re-at-the-higher-levels-of-budgeting-you-ve-got-to-get/)

[Ridley Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ridley-scott/)

> [I don't want to revisit history or try to re-interpret it, you know, but starting from where we are now, given the experience that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/i-don-t-want-to-revisit-history-or-try-to-re-interpret-it-you-know/)

[Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/)

> [If we're going to have an unconventional budget, we probably need an unconventional process to get there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-foxx/if-we-re-going-to-have-an-unconventional-budget-we-probably-need-an/)

[Anthony Foxx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-foxx/)

> [The American people, in their own families, they understand that you have to do that. You have to make the tough decisions. You have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cathy-mcmorris-rodgers/the-american-people-in-their-own-families-they-understand-that-you/)

[Cathy McMorris Rodgers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cathy-mcmorris-rodgers/)

> [There is no excuse for waste, fraud, and abuse in the Defense Department budget.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bolton/there-is-no-excuse-for-waste-fraud-and-abuse-in-the-defense/)

[John Bolton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bolton/)

[Browse all 855 Budget quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/budget/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "According to the National Priorities Project, military expenditures are 54% of the budget. The next biggest line item is 7%. And there are a whole bunch of 7 percents. So in short, we have a military budget surrounded by a lot of footnotes. This is not serving us well.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Jill Stein"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/according-to-the-national-priorities-project-military-expenditures/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Budget"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/according-to-the-national-priorities-project-military-expenditures/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fe/jill-stein-660_budgets_according-to-the-national-priorities-pro_1525582.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fe/jill-stein-660_budgets_according-to-the-national-priorities-pro_1525582.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6fe/jill-stein-660_budgets_according-to-the-national-priorities-pro_1525582.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“According to the National Priorities Project, military expenditures are 54% of the budget. The next biggest…” — Jill Stein",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Jill Stein",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "According to the National Priorities Project,...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/according-to-the-national-priorities-project-military-expenditures/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/according-to-the-national-priorities-project-military-expenditures/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
