I can never understand this idea that taxes are "forcibly" taken from me.
The correct phrase should be "lawfully collected from me" by the agents of
a government that I helped to elect (whether I voted for a particular
member or not).  Our government is neither tyrannical -- for heaven's
sake -- nor criminal.

May I also say, as an former employee on Capitol Hill, at a public
university, and at a Fortune 500 company, that the waste and extravagance
at the company were far greater than any I've seen in government.  Or to
put it another way, the company's disregard of shareholders, not to
mention customers and the general public, far outstripped any supposed
arrogance on the part of a government agency towards the taxpayers.

As for the comment (expressed by a different writer) that we're all in the
35% bracket, it should be understood that this includes taxes at all
levels, i.e., federal, state and local.  Saying that a particular function
(e.g., the arts) should be handled at the local level is irrelevant to
arguments about the overall "burden" (awful word) of taxation.

Andy Finch
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AAM Government Affairs
Usual Disclaimers Apply and then some