Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, defense spending, debt interest, and veterans and retiree benefits consume 76% of the budget, and the other 24% amounts to only $1.5 trillion. Read story here and watch video here.
Large deficits are a result of revenue losses. If you want to fix deficits, you also have to fix that. Certainly, Republicans are considering this side of the equation. Predictably, they’re looking at ways to shift tax burdens to the poor and working classes. Tariffs, which are paid by consumers, are a prime example of this strategy.
On the spending side, health care is their primary target. The federal government pays for about half of Americans’ health care. That’s the lowest hanging fruit, or at least, so it seems. But much of this is earned benefits: Federal and military retirees, veterans, and people who’ve paid into Medicare all their working lives.
