The federal government alone taxes the populace to the tune of about $2 trillion a year. Add to that the 50 state governments and thousands of city and state governments and the total is probably over $3 trillion. This is out of an economy with a GDP somewhere around $8.5 trillion. How much is enough?

It has been said that "taxes are the price for living in a civilized society." True, but how much is enough? Taxes are absolutely necessary to fund the legitimate functions of government. What I and some others object to are the constitutionally questionable functions of government. By itself, government has no wealth. It can only give money to some people after it has taken that money from others.

It was a political genius who first realized that you can use other people's money to buy votes. "He who robs Peter to pay Paul can always count on the support of Paul." To deny that many of the government programs exist solely as a means of locking in an electorate is to deny reality. Both sides play this game.