We’re more than $16 trillion in debt, but when policy-makers dare to propose cutting spending and paying down the debt, they’re cast as extremists with no heart. Well, actions have consequences, and not it seems Americans are modeling the behavior of the federal spenders and borrowers — spend for today with little regard for tomorrow.

A growing number of researchers are concerned that the nation is on the cusp of a shift in which more Americans are on a track that will lead to a decline in their living standards when they retire.

The report says that debt is among the biggest culprits. The amount of money that households nearing retirement are dedicating to pay down debts has increased 69 percent over the past two decades, the report said. Households headed by people ages 55 to 64 now spend 22 cents of each dollar to pay off old loans — about the same percentage as younger people, the report found.

The problem is not confined to the poorest Americans, many of whom have no retirement savings. Most of the people with accounts who are accumulating debt faster than retirement savings are older than 40, college educated and earning more than $50,000 a year, the report said.

And guess what “some” want to do? More government aid, more transfers of wealth.

Citing the decline in traditional fixed-benefit pensions and the inability of many Americans to save adequately in 401(k)-type accounts, some advocates are calling on the federal government to bolster Social Security benefits or to create a new form of retirement help for future retirees.