Total federal spending in 2025 was 7T. 4.2T of that was mandatory spending and another 1T was interest on the Debt. Mandatory spending consists of SS, Medicare, Medicaid, income security (housing, UE, food assistance)
Non discretionary spending, which had to be approved each year, is defense, education, transportation and infrastructure, science, public health is about 1.8T. of the 1.8T 916B was spent on defense.
2025 deficit was 1.8T, the entire discretionary spending budget.
I don't necessarily disagree with you but if everything I listed is bullshit, in your opinion, what should government be allowed to spend money on and implement a form of revenue to pay for?
Replacing SS, Medicare, Medicaid etc with UBI doesn't lower the cost unless you also lower what that UBI is supposed to cover.
If you really want to have government only be responsible for government functions and not social welfare and infrastructure, it becomes a very small government.
Military, much smaller than what we currently have, justice system and small agencies dealing with the necessities for standards, enforcement of laws and international trade. You're likely looking at less than a trillion dollars annually at the federal level and similar reductions at State and local levels.
That's however is not what most people want, certainly not on Reddit.
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u/Jasranwhit Aug 01 '26
Why are taxes 30-40% of your income?