We can't afford Head Start, Pell Grants, to invest in Green energy and infrastucture, in other words, the future. But we can afford subsidies to corporations, big oil, grain farmers and to keep a military that's larger than what, the next 17 largest in the world combined? Most of which are our allies!
It doesn't trickle down. It trickles up. We can't consume all the goods and services required to keep our phony economy afloat without either getting a bigger share of the income, or by living beyond our means. Which we can't do anymore.