Research, roads, and schools do not make up a meaningful percentage of the federal budget at all. Healthcare makes a decent chuck with Medicare and Medicaid, and those badly need reform as many people receive aid who are fully capable of paying costs themselves. Social Security, defense spending, and debt service are the other big ones.
Ultimately, no idea what will happen when debt services consumes all tax revenues. This will come in the mid-2030s at the current rate. I figure that the Fed will just suspend the requirement of Treasuries and debt payments, print like crazy, and the USA will look like Zimbabwe.
The actual problem with healthcare is not that the wrong people receive it for free, but that it costs about 20 times as much as it should. Fix that, and they can easily afford to give it to everyone for free.
My wife and I were perfectly capable of paying for her transplant operation after some fund raising, and both the hospital and the insurance company knew this as for her to qualify for transplant they examined our finances. We also make more than enough to pay for the anti-rejection medication. We had zero need for Medicare. This didn't matter. As soon as she entered renal failure, she was forced onto Medicare. There are absolutely people receiving assistance who do not need it and in some cases do not want it.
Ultimately, no idea what will happen when debt services consumes all tax revenues. This will come in the mid-2030s at the current rate. I figure that the Fed will just suspend the requirement of Treasuries and debt payments, print like crazy, and the USA will look like Zimbabwe.