America is broke. Broken from the top to the bottom, with no one spared. It is easy to see with the downward spiral of percentage of people who trust the federal government. In 1958, the number was 73%. Following a high of 77% in 1964, the numbers dropped through the Vietnam War, the Nixon debacles and the general growing incompetence of the government. The number is 22% today. I’m surprised it’s this high.

Last year, the U.S. government collected $4.9 trillion while spending $6.7 trillion. It is worse so far this year. It sure seems like spending about $13 million per minute is a lot. Yet, millions of people rely upon the government for basic living services, including shelter, food, clothing, health, etc. Nowhere is this more evident than with the Medicaid program.

Medicaid is a big beast of a governmental program. So big that it covered 78,577,962 Americans as of March 2025. About 47.5% of these Americans are children. The program is available in all 50 states, and many Summit County residents take advantage of these benefits. In fact, 13.63% of Summit County’s population receives Medicaid benefits (called Health First Colorado), or about 4,160 persons.

I mention this because the recently passed tax bill in Washington will cut about 12 million people, or about 15%, from the health care plans. Assuming that we also see a 15% reduction, this will amount to over 620 people losing health care here in our community. This is very real to those who will be affected. Seniors and children will be hit especially hard due to the population demographics and income-earning ability. President Trump has said that despite the $1 trillion plus reduction in federal spending the legislation would cut, “Medicaid is left alone. It’s left the same,” while Vice President Vance stated that the Medicaid reductions were “immaterial.” Neither are telling the truth.

Both false statements from the top of the executive branch reveal precisely what is wrong with America today. There is no accountability, truth, compassion or sense of empathy. When empathy and/or compassion is considered a weakness, you know we have lost our way. Ask yourself: why are we taking away this vital health safety net (along with others, including food stamps via SNAP program) for our country’s most vulnerable citizens? How about to make sure that single taxpayers who make more than $626,350 or married couples who earn $751,600 or more can pay taxes at a top rate of 37% instead of 39.6%. It is really this simple.

When General Electric, General Motors, Meta (owner of Facebook), Tesla and T-Mobile can earn over $70 billion in profits yet pay an effective average tax rate of just 6.9%, something is seriously broken. Even though the corporate tax rate is 21%, the amount they paid is effectively one-half of what a typical American family paid in income taxes.

America is broken when you realize that citizens did not wish to increase taxes to pay for a $1 million warning system in Texas that could have prevented so many deaths last week. But who cares? As our president has stated, he sees no benefit in FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and plans to phase it out later this year. He said: “A governor should be able to handle it, and frankly, if they can’t handle it, the aftermath, then maybe they shouldn’t be governor.” So instead of one national agency to coordinate and assist in emergencies, we now must rely on 50 such agencies, each on their own. Fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, or floods — we’re on our own. 

Every country in the world treats its elite upper class with deference and respect. Those at the top of communist, socialist, democratic, fascist, Nazi or any other form of government are treated well. It is how those at the bottom of the societal ladder are treated that really separates the countries. And it is here that the United States shows just how broken it really is. The reverse Robin Hood policies of taking from the poor to give to the rich are destined to fail, and fail big.

While the federal government prints more money to accomplish its fiscal negligence, the State of Colorado is facing a budget deficit of around $1.2 billion. It cannot print money but instead draws down its reserve fund (which is limited). We will see what creative measures Summit County needs to utilize to balance its next budget. And all of this is happening in what is considered a strong economy. What happens when a recession rears its ugly head later in 2025 or 2026? With many of the safety nets dismantled or in the process of being dismantled, it is anyone’s guess what happens when those who have lost so much have nothing else to lose.

Scott M. Estill’s column “Challenges, Choices, Changes” publishes biweekly on Thursdays in the Summit Daily News. Estill is an attorney, author, and public speaker who lives in Dillon when not traveling or attending to legal matters in Denver. Contact him at scott@scottestill.com.