We do not owe the national debt or own debt assets on a per capita basis. What you owe is based on income tax paid (not social security, that is an asset you buy). What you own is based on your money, retirement, pension or social security program's debt assets (you don't own them, they provide you with income later) and high yield assets (savings bonds, T-Bills, mutual funds - but not stocks as they are not backed by debt).
This video explains what you owe (gross and net) or own by income class.
If you are in the bottom 80% (making under $117K), your family owes $61 K and nets 16.3K - for a family of 4, that's $15K owed, but once assets are added, you own 4K. That is most people, just by being born, the government owes you, on average $4,000.
On the other end, if you are in the top 0.1$, making $3.3 Mil per year, your family owes $39M and you owe 9.8M - but adding back assets, your family nets $19M if all debts were paid and debt assets distributed. That's $4.75M per rich person, when born.
The upper middle, from 0.1% to 2% make over $439K, owe $2.8M ($701K/person) and, even when assets are settled, still owe $1M ($271/person).
The middle ($117K to $439K, from 2% to 20%) owe $370K ($92/person) and have a net debt of $31K ($7,9K/person).
The top 0.1%, 153,000 families, don't get most of their money from wages or even profits from businesses they own - although it is not a small amount. The vast majority of that money is capital gains (long and short term) for the sale of either direct or mutual fund asset sales - net of losses (if you lose big, you move down in class for that year - so you owe and pay less).
This gives us the answer on how to give the very reach less of a share of the net debt - so that all of the upper and middle classes "break even." Raise the capital gains tax rate - particularly the long-term rate - which is 20% now on (and 37% for short term). Each year, your share of the capital gains for your fund is a taxable event - and they disclose that amount to you and the IRS if you are in a fund (and not cheating - and some do). There is a 3.8% Obamacare surtax as well - and that revenue should be broad-based, not a tax on the wealthy. Biden wanted to raise the tax (including Obamacare) to 28.8%.
Under Reagan, it was 28%, Papa Bush raised it to 31% , with Clinton making it 39.6% before he cut it back to 28%. W made it 20% and Obama added the surtax of 3.8%, with Trump and Biden leaving it there with no talk of changing it in the Big Beautiful Bill. Letting the Trump 45 tax cuts expire does not change it at all. B3 largely keeps tax policy on capital income and gains where Obama left them and extends the tax fixes that made things simpler. Trump's cuts to corporate income taxes were allowed to become permanent in 2017 - meaning Dems did not stop them - even in private - and the whole thing was negotiated in private - as is the BBB).
IT WILL TAKE REAL REFORM TO FIX THIS.
On the whole, government spending on entitlements, the military, domestic non-military and net interest cannot be changed much - or at all in any meaningful way. Most tax rates, including the 37% rate at the top, are not going anywhere - (the 37% rate is fairly bipartisan, falling between the rates set by Clinton/Obama and Bush).
That leaves business taxes - all of which should move at the same rate.
It's where the money is. The current level is between 22% and 24%. Biden proposed 29%.
So, lets VAT or tariff fund Obamacare or have employers pay for it as a subtraction VAT item. Kill the income tax and establish subtraction VAT surtaxes for high incomes and dividends, paid for by companies based on wages and dividends paid to individuals and mutual/retirement funds - but let them prepay these taxes and trade them as bond assets. Pay for other spending the same way EXCEPT
Create an asset value added tax - 26% is the sweet spot between where the Democrats and Republicans would put it. Repeal corporate profits taxes on a worldwide basis and have the world sign onto the AVAT at about the same rate.
Use the funds for overseas military expenses, net interest and - when the budget goes into balance - debt reduction.
THERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE
If you zero rate public stock sales to an qualified employee stock ownership program - so that heirs who sell the company shares pay no tax if you mark taxes to market after death, gift, or donation, plus IPO and Option exercise) - and repeal the death tax (while enacting VAT and/or decent tariffs), then the size of the capitalist sector goes down while the employee-owned share goes up - as does the demand for government. Again, TINA. They used to use TINA to say capitalism will never go away. Now, TINA if we want to keep the dollar solvent.
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