The actual cause is the drain of our revenue for the military budget trying to be the police force for the world.
https://www.usgovernmentspending.com/spending_chart_2009_2029USp_30tAccording to this website, military spending as a % of GDP has decreased but is expected to increase but not as high as is was in 2010. (Ranging from approximately 4% to 5.5% of GDP)
Unfortunately , the United States is addicted to its government, representing 36% of GDP according to the website.
So a significant cut in government spending will increase unemployment until those workers are absorbed into the rest of the economy. I refer to government spending as workfare.
Go back to your economics text books and reread about the multiplier effect. Workfare (to a point) is good for the economy. That is one of the benefits of NASA.
And so there is no confusion, I would prefer a much smaller central government - some day. It will be painful getting there.
The bigger problem IMHO is perpetual deficit spending. It is
immoral for us to ask our children and grandchildren to pay for the stuff we are getting today.