Lindsay Koshgarian

Lindsay Koshgarian is the Program Director of the National Priorities Project, where she oversees NationalPriorities.org. Lindsay’s work on the federal budget includes analysis of the federal budget process and politics, military spending, and specifically how federal budget choices for different spending priorities and taxation interact. A particular area of focus is how a decades-long policy of outsized military budgets has eroded political will to invest in opportunity and human potential through greater federal support of education, health care, infrastructure and more.

Prior to joining NPP in 2014, Lindsay was a researcher at the University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute, where she conducted state and regional economic development studies. She got her start as an organizer for Planned Parenthood in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. She holds a Master of Public Policy from UCLA and a BA in Physics from the University of Pennsylvania.

Latest

How Are US Tax Dollars Being Spent? Hint: The Pentagon Is Cashing In.

Lindsay Koshgarian | April 14, 2024

The average US taxpayer sent $58 to fund antiwar diplomacy efforts versus $5,109 for militarism and its support systems.

Last Year, You Spent More Than a Month’s Rent on Pentagon Contractors

Lindsay Koshgarian | April 10, 2024

A dollar by dollar look at how our taxes enrich military contractors — at the expense of things that actually make us secure.

NEW: In 2023, the average American’s income taxes funded $5,109 for militarism and its support systems

Lindsay Koshgarian, Alliyah Lusuegro, Olivia Alperstein | April 9, 2024

The average taxpayer subsidized $1,748 toward Pentagon contractors.

FACT SHEET: Your 2024 Tax Receipt

Lindsay Koshgarian, Alliyah Lusuegro | April 9, 2024

The average taxpayer was forced to subsidize military contractors at the expense of human needs. Here’s an item by item look.

Militarized Funding in Biden Budget Totals Well Over $1 Trillion (and it will grow)

Lindsay Koshgarian | March 11, 2024

Unless the administration changes its approach, these wars will continue to deprive us of the security we actually need.

Congress Should Embrace the Vitality That Immigration Brings

Lindsay Koshgarian, Alliyah Lusuegro | February 22, 2024

We must refuse to be divided by those who want to scare us, and enact some genuine immigration reform.

The Senate’s Failed War and Border Deal is Not Security

Lindsay Koshgarian | February 7, 2024

Security for all means honoring legal immigration, creating paths to citizenship, and it means ending and preventing wars.

Budget Deal Ensures Bombs Will Keep Dropping While Fewer Human Needs Are Met

Lindsay Koshgarian | January 10, 2024

All of that military funding comes at the direct cost of funding social programs and climate programs.

Sending Israel More Aid Now is a Lose-Lose Proposition

Lindsay Koshgarian | November 30, 2023

It would enable the war to go longer and cost more lives while depriving us of resources at home.

Pentagon Fails Its Sixth Audit

Lindsay Koshgarian | November 21, 2023

Every year that members of Congress vote for budget boosts to this agency with no strings attached, they choose to spend untold billions on war with no accountability.

FACT SHEET: Invest in Communities, Not Violence

Alliyah Lusuegro, Lindsay Koshgarian, Ashik Siddique | November 9, 2023

Here’s how legislators have splurged on militarism, and what could happen if those funds instead benefited people and communities.

WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 02: (L-R) U.S. House Majority Whip Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN), Speaker of the House Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA), House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and House Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) leave after a news briefing at the U.S. Capitol on November 2, 2023 in Washington, DC. House Republican held a Conference meeting to discuss party agenda.

House GOP Wants to Pair Israel Military Aid With IRS Cuts That Help Rich Tax Cheats

Lindsay Koshgarian, Ashik Siddique, Alliyah Lusuegro | October 31, 2023

“House Republicans are using aid for Israel as a political pawn in order to slash taxes for their wealthy donors,” said Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden.

Israel, Ukraine, the Border: What’s in Biden’s $105 Billion Military Bill

Lindsay Koshgarian | October 25, 2023

The package includes $7.2 billion for direct military financing to Ukraine ($1.7 billion), Israel ($3.5 billion), and the Indo-Pacific ($2 billion).

Protesters stage a demonstration in support of a cease fire against the Palestinians in Gaza in the Cannon House Office Building on October 18, 2023 in Washington, DC. Members of the Jewish Voice for Peace and the IfNotNow movement staged a rally to call for a cease fire in the Israel–Hamas war

Common Dreams highlights the National Priorities Project’s Call for a Ceasefire in Gaza

Lindsay Koshgarian, Ashik Siddique, Alliyah Lusuegro | October 20, 2023

The U.S. should use diplomatic channels to work for an immediate ceasefire, and shout not provide more weapons and military aid to Israel.

From the National Priorities Project at IPS: More Military Aid to Israel Will Mean More Deaths

Lindsay Koshgarian | October 20, 2023

In the face of massive suffering in Gaza and disregard for international law by the Israeli government, the U.S. must not provide additional military aid or weapons that would cause more deaths. Instead, the U.S. should use its considerable diplomatic strength to call for an immediate ceasefire.

Beware the Anti-China Sentiment Pushing Us Towards Another Cold War

Phyllis Bennis, Lindsay Koshgarian | September 16, 2023

If the United States can’t learn to cooperate with China, our future will be one of constant escalation of wars and threats of wars and all that comes with them

The Culture Wars Are Hijacking Debate On the Military Budget

Lindsay Koshgarian | July 25, 2023

Republicans want to fill the defense bill with bans on abortion, trans health care, and racial diversity initiatives in the military.

Dwight Was Right: Congress Must Say No to Military Contractors

Lindsay Koshgarian | July 12, 2023

The world Eisenhower warned about has materialized. We need more members of Congress to stand up to the arms industry and fight for social investments instead.

Black handgun and ammunition on American 100 dollar bills that are fanned out.

Debt Ceiling Deal Reinforced Washington’s Old Double Standard for Military Spending

Lindsay Koshgarian | June 13, 2023

The budget deal was supposed to slow spending, but the most expensive federal agency didn’t get a budget cut — it got a raise.

For GOP, Debt Ceiling Deal Was Never About Debt — It Was About Conserving Power

Lindsay Koshgarian | June 9, 2023

Conservatives weaponized the debt deal to consolidate power. Let’s use the budget to create new power structures.

Program Director

National Priorities Project

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Topics of Interest

Costs of War, Diplomacy and Foreign Aid Budgets, Federal Budget, Federal Budget Process and Politics, Federal Spending, Inequality, Militarism and Law Enforcement, Military Spending, Participatory Budgeting, Tax Policy