Question of the Day
What portion of all federal taxes are consumed by spending on Medicare and Social Security?
Correct Answer
In 2023, the federal government collected $4.7 trillion in taxes and spent $1.0 trillion on Medicare and $1.4 trillion on Social Security. Thus, these two programs consumed 51% of all federal taxes. Under current law, the Congressional Budget Office projects that Medicare and Social Security will consume a continually greater share of the nation’s economy for the foreseeable future. Contrary to popular belief, Medicare and Social Security aren’t savings programs but mainly tax-and-spend programs that redistribute money from younger to older people and from richer to poorer people while placing greater tax burdens on every generation of Americans.