Total tax burden in the US is about 30%, slightly higher for the top half of the income scale. http://ctj.org/ctjreports/2015/04/who_pays_taxes_in_america_...
> The lions share goes to Washington where as far as I can tell it either evaporates or gets spent on very expensive jobs programs like the F-35.
About 2/3 of taxes go to the federal government. Half of federal spending is on Social Security and medical spending (Medicare, Medicaid, etc.). About 16% is defense and international security assistance.
http://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/policy-basics-wh...
> At the same time we also have large numbers of people who pay no taxes, 51%.
About 45% of households pay no federal income tax, but most of them still pay federal payroll taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, and so on. The estimated tax burden for the lowest income 20% of the population is 19.2%, less that the overall 30%, but still significant.
Mandatory spending was 65% of our budget last year the majority of which goes to healthcare, pensions, and social security. Defense was over half of our discretionary spending. I'm hopeful that the US could make changes in defense spending but healthcare and pensions will screw us and it will be our own fault.
The second you open a conversation with "We are going to reform pensions" or "We are going to guide health access in medicare" politicians have stepped on too many voters' toes and the system falls apart.
If the US adopted a policy for medicare similar to the UK's NICE it would be derided as "death panels".
I think we all want an easy ride and regrettably the people who will end up paying for it are going to be the people with little to no say.
However, the part about "pay spiking" by taking on a more difficult or higher cost of living locaiton, but higher paying, job in the last 2 or 3 years, is very true. It would probably make more sense to average your entire career.
It's a shame private companies don't offer pensions anymore, but I guess that was just a thing for my grandparent's generation.
By large number of people who pay no taxes, I assume you are referring to working age adults? In other words you exclude those under 18 years age, most college students, retirees, people with major disabilities, those who choose to stay at home to take care of their kids because child care is unaffordable? Also most of those who pay no income taxes still pay sales tax, social security tax, medicare tax and (sometimes) property taxes.
The problem is that we already pay a lot in taxes and we get poor returns on this money as it is. I think there would be more people willing to pay more if they thought money was the answer and it would help people. Most people think the money would just be wasted.
At the same time we also have large numbers of people who pay no taxes, 51%. So as our population grows, the demand for services increases but the percentage of tax paying citizens is not increasing.
We have a real mess here.