Considering the functionally infinite levels of debt our government(s) operate under I suggest this has nothing to do with government revenue or budgets.
It's all about manipulating who has wealth and power among the public by regulating the level of true wealth allowed among the middle class.
I define true wealth as all liquid assets and property compared to all debts owed.
Paying down and getting out of debt, all debt, including so called good debt is to be made as difficult as possible.
A debt free fully employed middle class who own real assets cannot be controlled and manipulated as easily as those who are so in debt they are compelled to work jobs they wish to escape. Paying off their debt becomes more difficult because all their "wealth" is tied up in financial instruments that are subject to government/financial masters of the universe whims. You must carry high debt load to live the middle class life (mortgage/car payments etc.), and let any wealth accumulated be used by the controllers or lose a high percentage of it to them if you cash out. The system is functional but is not freedom. It is a system of usury as old as written history and has been used to enslave people from time immemorial.
Whenever the people get uppity, the powers that be can just wreck the economy, forcing the people "to make bricks with no straw".
The yoke on the American beast of burden is not there to pay for government. It is there to maintain control.
We've all been fortunate to live in a gilded cage. Our chains have rested pretty lightly upon us.
I'm not confident the new crop of "nobles" are going to practice the same level of Noblesse oblige.