'The U.S. Does Not Have a Spending Problem, We Have a Distribution Problem'

James Kwak argues that "Forty years from now, America will be twice as rich on average as we are today. But most of that wealth will go to the very richest households. We only have a budget crisis if they refuse to pay higher taxes:

The U.S. Does Not Have a Spending Problem, We Have a Distribution Problem, by James Kwak: In this season of fiscal silliness, many people are saying that we cannot afford our current entitlement programs. They shake their heads solemnly and say that Social Security and Medicare were well-intentioned ideas, but we simply do not have the money to pay for them and there is no escaping the need for "structural changes."

Hogwash. ... The federal government exists to serve the American people, not the other way around. The real question is whether we as a society can afford our current level of entitlement spending.

The answer is obviously yes. ...