$200 billion a year in interest charges

For all the talk about health care this election season, politicians of both parties are ignoring a giant sucking sound.The cost of health care continues to soar, vacuuming up a growing share of the nation’s economic output and putting an ever-larger strain on both family incomes and government budgets. Since Medicare and Medicaid were created in 1965, the federal commitment to health care spending has grown from about 3 cents of every taxpayer dollar to nearly 34 cents, not counting interest payments on U.S. debt. And that share is set to keep rising in the coming years as the population ages.

Of the $600 billion in interest charges the federal government pays, a third of that are charges on past insurance payments for which we didn't have the taxes.   We are borrowing money to pay for current medical services.

Large state voters don't care,  do not understand. Large state budgets can cushion the blow.  Small states do not have the economies of scale advantages.  So when interest charges rise, as they have, small state senators will go on strike, we get a shutdown.