The US borrows money at extremely low interest and has a dynamic economy with higher than average growth for the developed world. That's the most important thing when it comes to debt. It's why the debt itself is not as large an issue as people think and why we're in a totally different situation than say, Greece.
Being able to borrow money at low interest is a very good thing when your country is in a recession or you're in need of a large spending project (like infrastructure). The problem is the US has been deficit spending for decades of mostly constant economic growth. Contrary to popular belief our deficits are mostly because of Republican policies so we've had very little to show for it. Tax cuts for the wealthy, wars and the most inefficient health care system in the developed world don't benefit the average person.
It's not the deficit that's the problem. It's the debt.
In either case, you're wrong that it's the fault of Republican policy - two-thirds of both the debt and total spending are made up solely by Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.
And while our fiscal situation isn't as bad as Greece, it IS as bad as most of Europe, and most of Europe is teetering on the brink of disaster.
You are aware that Social Security is nearly entirely financed by its dedicated payroll tax and interest on its assets? In other words, it is fiscally self-sustaining, and will remain so(by current projections) for almost two decades. Cutting Social Security in a way that would be revenue-positive would involve leaving the payroll tax in place while reducing the pay-outs of the program. This would be hugely unpopular, for reasons that should be obvious.
As for Medicare, its expenditures are mostly paid out by two trust funds held by the U.S. Treasury Department: the Hospital Trust Insurance Fund(which funds Part A) and the Supplementary Medical Insurance Fund(which funds Part B and a portion of Part D). Medicare Part D is the only part of the program without a discreet, dedicated funding mechanism(this was by design).
Medicaid is the only one that's actually funded out of general revenue, but every state runs its own program which is, in part, funded by that state. This makes it the most vulnerable to cuts, but given that it exists to give health insurance to poor people, I wonder what you think would be a better use of the money?
I am aware of all of that. However, it doesn't change the irrefutable fact that those three programs make up 2/3 of our debt. You see, while SS is funded by a separate tax, the Trust Fund has been borrowed from every year for decades - this, too, is by design.
You ask what I think a better use of the money would be, and my answer is "literally anything not handled by the government." The best estimates put SS as lasting less than twenty years. That means I'll still be a decade shy of being able to collect, barring some debilitating tragedy. That means that, for the past twenty years, the Federal government has literally been stealing from me, and every attempt during my lifetime to CHANGE that has been met with absolute, iron-willed resistance at every turn.
Fuck Social Security. ---
'It's okay that those gangbangers stole all my personal belongings and cash at gunpoint, cuz they're building a rec center!' - OneTimeBen