Joe Sobran writes in his current column, "We're living in an orgy of greed, all right: government greed."

Sobran notes that the whole notion of greed has been inverted. Individuals desiring to decide what to do with the money they earn are deemed greedy, while government bureaucrats wanting to get their hands on other people's money are deemed not greedy, but altruistic, benevolent, and charitable.

"Private ownership is also the best way to prevent concentrated and limitless power," Sobran concludes. "It disperses power like nothing else, and formal limits on government—checks and balances, and all that—are empty if the state owns everything in principle. The very phrase tax revolt implies that the state is the master and the people merely the servants. If it were the other way around, it would be nonsense to call a popular vote a 'revolt.'"

I AM A LIBERAL. I LOVE AMERICA. I WELCOME DISSENT. DO CONSERVATIVE MAKE THE SAME CLAIM WHEN THEY ARE IN POWER.
NOW THAT WE ARE IN THE LARGEST DEFICIT IN HUMANKIND HISTORY, HOW DO PAY FOR THESE UPPER CLASS TAX CUTS AND ELECTIVE IRAQI WAR. IS IT GREED IF THE GOVERNMENT TAXES TO REPAID THIS DEBT? OR IS IT “GOVERNMENT BUREAUCRATS WANTING TO GET THEIR HANDS ON OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY”JUST BEING ALTRUISTIC, BENEVOLENT, AND CHARITABLE?
WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE – THE UPPER CLASS IS LEAVING THE REST OF US HOLDING THE BAG.

To RC
I am a conservative. I do welcome dissent but where has all this meaness come from. It is way out of hand and it comes mostly from the liberal side of the isle. Calling people a Nazi, making factually inaccurate movies, etc. And why shouldn't the "upper class" as you call the group, get the taxes breaks as they are the ones paying the most taxes. Look at the IRS tax tables, see who pays the taxes. Why should I pay taxes so someone who doesn't pay taxes can get a refund. I work had for my money and do not like to see it thrown away either. But if we didn't allow pet project to be added to popular bills we wouldn't have a deficit. Why should I pay for a 4 lane Hwy to no where in West Virgina? Or a water pipeline in Arizona? The people that use the service should pay for it.
My wife and I are both professionals and make together about $100K a year, did you know we are in the group that pays over 96% of the taxes in the U.S. According to the IRS statistics the top 50% earners pay 96% of all the income taxes in the U.S. Again why shouldn't we be the ones that get the tax breaks when we are the ones paying the way for everyone else.

This tax debate is complicated. Actually the wealthy pay a higher rate of income tax, that is true. But they can also afford to hire tax lawyers who often can whittle thier tax bill down to next to nothing. The wealthy also use tax havens to avoid paying thier fair share. More to the point, income tax as a percentage of federal tax revenues has been declining for decades while the share for the payroll tax, the one charged to average workers on every paycheck has been increasing. If the right wing really cared about tax relief they would advocate a lowering of the payroll tax, because that's the one average WORKING americans pay the most on. But they don't do that. They advocate income tax and capital gains taxs cuts because those are the taxes the rich pay the most on. Danny, your idea of taxes is cute, but simplisic. Those tax figures are for federal income tax only, and don't include regressive state and local taxes, which tax the poor more than the rich. (such as taxes on things like cigarettes and alcohol or even state sales and property taxes which often operate on a regressive scale, rather than the progressive one used in federal income tax rates.)I'll agree with you on one thing, when it comes to the federal income tax rates its people like you and your wife who get screwed because your braket is set way too high for your income. The solution is to lower your tax bracket and raise the one on the super rich, to make up the difference, not to lower taxes acsross the board. You're right, people like you pay too many taxes,you can't afford it. But the answer lies in funding the government on the backs of those who can afford it.