The US ran up a huge debt during WWII. However, in ensuing years, the income tax rates went up as high as 92%, and by the early 1950's, the Federal budget was back to normal. Fast forward to today, when government spending has been spiraling out of control for the past 15+ years...while both Bush and Trump have enacted tax reform measures that have lowered the taxes for most people....especially the wealthy. Today, our government "wastes" hundreds of billions each year just paying the Interest on the National Debt. This, IMO, is why the Fed is so adamant about maintaining the Fed Funds rates at historic lows...if the Fed allowed interest rates to return to where the banks were paying 4 or 5 percent on savings accounts, and the government had to pay similar rates of interest on our nation's debt, virtually Every dollar in the budget would be going to these interest payments...with Nothing left over for anything else.
I guess our ancestors, who were willing to accept a heavy tax burden 70 years ago, cared more about our nation than today's people and politicians. But, there is hope on the horizon. When our nation's finances get completely out of control, Washington will probably revert to a policy enacted by other nations who have demonstrated such financial stupidity....most notably Argentina and Greece....and Washington will devalue the Dollar, thus eliminating most of the deficit. When, Not IF, that happens, it will bankrupt the vast majority of our working populations....wages will remain the same, while prices spiral out of control due to the fractional value of the dollar.
With regard to Medicare and SS, I don't give Medicare much more than 5 more years before our greedy Health Care Industry forces our people to wake up and demand a SP-UHC plan....much like the rest of the world uses...or only the wealthy will be able to afford buying health care insurance and going to the doctor. If you look up the top 10 highest paid professions in the U.S., 7 of them are in the Health Care Industry...and that doesn't take into account the greed being forced on our people by the drug companies. Social Security is "supposedly" intact until around 2032, then the surplus funds will be exhausted. At that time, anyone who has income from savings, pensions, IRA's, etc., will see their benefits substantially reduced, or "means tested", and SS will become little more than a Welfare Program for those at the bottom of the economic ladder. Longevity, and the burgeoning populations of the elderly are quickly going to demand some serious actions from our government.
The way things are going, the Middle Class will be virtually extinct in another 25 years, and we will have a population where 90% of the nation's wealth is held by 1 or 2 % of the wealthy, and the remaining 10% will be spread among hundreds of millions who are barely getting by. Most of us will be gone by that time, but our kids, grandkids and beyond will be living in a world far different from what we have known.
I remember reading a report...many years ago...from a group of academics and futurists, who said that there would be one more great war....probably in the latter half of this century. This war will Not be nation vs. nation...rather, it will be the Have's vs. the Have Nots. Basically the outcome will be determined by whether the Haves have enough bullets, before the Have Nots run out of bodies. If the Haves win, the world will unite under a common government and language, the global population will be substantially reduced, and mankind will begin a serious reach for the stars. If the Have Nots win, mankind will revert back to the Dark Ages. Anyone who follows the news closely would be hard pressed to refute the conclusions of this report.
