08/24/2026
$418,852,474. $1,697 per taxpayer.
That’s how much VT taxpayer money is projected to be spent on mass deportations during the second Trump administration — money that could instead fund necessities in our communities, like teachers, firefighters, nurses, veterans’ medical care, Medicaid, Head Start, SNAP, public housing, and paid parental leave.
We’re constantly told by both Democrats and Republicans that there isn’t enough money to meet people’s basic needs. But as we see with the endless bipartisan wars waged at home and abroad, the resources are there. The question is what they’re being used for — and who they serve.
Under capitalism, our collective resources are weaponized in service of the agendas of the wealthy and powerful, rather than being used to meet the needs of working people.
We need a new system where working people have the power to determine how our resources are used and how our future is planned. That system is called socialism.
