As yet another tax season ends, Americans are more than likely anxious to see how their tax dollars are going to be used by the government in the upcoming year.

However, that excitement may dwindle as people look at how Congress has allotted spending for the next fiscal year. One especially concerning area of the national budget is the country’s military spending, which takes up a disproportionate amount of our budget.

Currently, 55 percent of the nation’s discretionary spending, the part of the national budget that is optional, is devoted to the military, according to the National Priorities Project. That amount makes up 16 percent of all proposed spending for 2015, which includes mandatory government spending like Social Security and Medicare. The estimated military budget is $640 billion, with the House voting to add an additional $2 billion. This is especially concerning because this year’s budget has already raised emergency war funds by $38 billion, according to the New York Times.

The rise in military spending comes at a time when the nation’s deficit is still more than $400 billion for the next fiscal year. The money being used for the military and defense is a poor allotment of resources and is money that could be better used in many different areas of the economy, such as health care, education or renewable energy.

Especially alarming is Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, stating, “We need to make sure the number one priority for the federal government is adequately funded.”

Sen. Cornyn believes defense is the most important part of spending, when it is higher than food assistance, unemployment, education, transportation, housing and energy combined.

I highly doubt American society in general would prefer alloting resources disproportionately to the military and defense budget. Even though Americans elect their representatives, currently Congress is not doing a very good job of acting on the behalf of constituents and following their preferences. The military is able to offer suggestions and lobby for the size of its budget, but ultimately, Congress holds the power to shape the national budget however it chooses.

Military and defense spending is an especially tricky subject because, by its nature, the government needs to intervene. No one would want to buy a company’s national defense because he or she would want to free ride off those who would buy it, so it is necessary to have

government provision.

In the last election, Americans made clear they were not happy with the current budget deficit and the economy was a common topic of debate. President Obama has tried to limit spending, as 2015 will be the smallest yearly deficit of his presidency so far. He attempted to place a cap on defense spending, but Congress ignored his actions and went ahead by expanding, instead of reducing, spending.

The money could instead be used on programs many Americans would view as more beneficial than defense spending. For example, the government could expand education spending by funding more charter schools or providing vouchers for low-income families. The government could also help the low-income families or the homeless by developing more public housing. If the government didn’t spend money on other programs, it could potentially lower taxes as the deficit decreased.

The decision by the House and Senate to increase military spending is a decision that simply does not benefit the American people as much as it could.