Concerning the federal government - I can see that it is not represent US citizens anymore. US citizens is used to 'legitimize' existence of feds and to get bills for everything they do. Interests of J Street/AIPAC, FRS, Major corporations is what matters for federal government, citizens is on a second plane.
Warmongers feel yourself very comfortable in Wash., DC...
youtube.com/watch?v=drbVn3_EAns
Now about living standard. Let's imagine that China will nuke major industrial centers of United States tomorrow (rough equivalent of WW I that Russia had on their own territory), and sometime in 2050 Russia will repeat this, on even greater scale (equivalent of WW II in that Rusia had to fight on their own territory). At the same time, Mexico and Canada will turn to hostile countries, forcing to spend a lot to border guards and military units controlling border area. Sanctions/embargoes of all kinds will be added to spice the dish. And let's see what will be living standard of United States in 2125...
And I wish to mention, that "silver age" of United States was bought with a borrowed funds. US is not even started to repay what they got from whole world by emitting dollars that is not backed by anything more valuable than "banker promises".