You assume that the taxpayer can pay the interest on the debt every year. But the interest on the debt has risen to one of the top 6 budget expenses and as it rises we will reach the point where there are not enough taxes to cover the interest plus any sort of other expenses. Debt cannot continue to climb with no detrimental results.

And when the Fed needs to print money to buy US treasury bonds to keep down that interest rate and allow the US to continue to be solvent, they are shifting the burden by devaluing the dollar.

In short burts they can bounce back. Over the long term it leads to inflation.

Sure we have the military which is one of the top 3 budget items, and they can attack countries like Iraq who started talking about going off of the dollar for oil sales. But that just adds to the spending and adds to the problem. And higher taxes do not necessarily result in higher income as people work to shelter their money from those taxes, just look at the failure of the 75% tax in France.

Depending on violence and force to prop up your economy is not the best way forward even if in the short term it seems like it is working. That system always requires more force and more violence before it comes to an end.