The U.S. Government Balance Sheet and Income Statement: Not Just Pretty, It’s Deeply Disturbing.

I’ve often read about the U.S. federal deficit and rising debt, but I didn’t understand the depth of the problem until I read the U.S. government’s annual report of revenues, expenditures, liabilities, and non-debt obligations. (See attached.)

This is not sustainable. America doesn’t have to lose a war; it will fail by sinking deeper into a self-made financial hole. Imagine when Chinese holders of U.S. Treasuries (bills, notes, and bonds) decide to sell them, which could cause the dollar to crash and have a ripple effect in bond markets and even stock markets. At that point, U.S. fiat currency will lose its luster, and foreigners will demand dollars backed by gold.

What to do? Clearly, taxes on the wealthy and corporations need to be raised. To understand why the tax burden on Americans is so high and corporations are so light, consider the following data.

And another disturbing fact: Look at how much the US government spends on veterans: $472 billion, or 38% of the US defense budget. On the balance sheet, the unpaid obligations to veterans amount to $15 trillion.

If artificial intelligence becomes so advanced that the US infantry forces are rendered obsolete by the mass production of autonomous combat units (like Terminators) - just as drones revolutionized air and tank combat - then these obligations will increase dramatically, as the military is forced to lay off hundreds of thousands of personnel.

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US Government Income Statement

(For the year ending September 30, 2024)

(Figures in trillions of dollars)

Revenue:
• Individual taxes: 4.086 (82% of revenues)
• Corporate taxes: 0.535 (11% of revenues)
(Note: It's incredible that corporations pay so little in taxes; individuals pay almost 8 times as much in taxes!)
• Other revenues: 0.357 (7%)

Total revenues: $4.978 trillion (100%)

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Spending:
• Health care (Medicare and other): 1.738 (23% of expenditures)
• Social Security: 1.530 (21%)
• Defense: 1.232 (17%)
• Interest on debt: 0.909 (12%)
• Military Veterans: 0.472 (6%)
• Other Expenditures: (21%)

Total Expenditures: $7.403 trillion (100%)

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US Budget Deficit 2024:

-$2.425 trillion
(negative $2,425,000,000,000)