In the United States, the national debt now equals 100 percent
of gross domestic product (GDP), and is still growing. With the
retirement of the baby boomer generation, 78 million additional
people will turn to the federal government for Social Security,
Medicare and Medicaid benefits — roughly $40,000 per beneficiary
per year, on the average. If we continue on the current course,
the federal government will need to more than double the tax
revenues it now collects by the time we reach midcentury,
according to the Congressional Budget Office. At the same time
the government prepares to take more of our income, it is also
making it increasingly harder to earn that income. Additional
taxes and regulations are raising the cost of labor, reducing
the rewards for working and making the economy less productive
than it could be. Why are we having these problems? What can be
done about them? The main reason for the growth of government in
the 20th century was the creation of programs designed to
protect the middle cl