The government could easily save 10%, but it would not get smaller unless FTE cuts were mandated. Instead, it would come out of contracting with the private sector. Training contractors would get hit first (actually, they are getting hit now). The large training companies will weather the storm nicely, since they offer open enrollment classes that bureaucrats take with their own money. The little guys, however, will be laying folks off and not scheduling instructors (who are often retired Feds). The retired Feds will take less trips, not to the remodel, give less to their kids or eat out less, leading to higher unemployment in those sectors. They also won't buy that new car - or use the services of your business. While I have no doubt that you paid every tax you owed - after taking advantage of not more than a few deductions in the tax code, the fact is that most likely the tax rate you paid was too low - especially for the past 9 years - most likely by a factor of 10% to 20%. Whether your kids pay it with the inheritance or through higher taxes on the money they do make (or spend if the inevitable VAT tax passes), that shortfall in the taxes you and those like you paid is now on them - or their children - especially if the money set aside for the kids goes toward educting the grandkids so that they will be the kind of high income earners that will pay the highest rates.