Is the Government Taking YOUR Money?

So often these days I hear some conservative, often a Tea Partier, complain about how the Government shouldn't be doing such-and-such (helping the poor, insuring the uninsured, protecting the environment, etc.) with their money. "How dare they use my tax dollars for that!" Well you know what? That's not your money!

Tax dollars belong to the United States of America and should be used however she sees fit. If the U.S.A. is benefited by using that money to help someone other than you, then that's how it should be used. As long as the overall welfare of the nation, in the form of its citizens, is improved through greater freedom, equality and opportunity, it shouldn't matter whether you benefit or not.

"But the government doesn't have the right to my money!", they protest. Actually, it does. It has that right because We the People gave it that right through the laws passed by our democratically-elected representatives. And every citizen owes their contribution to the United States in exchange for the benefits they reap by being one of its citizens. For you 'free market' advocates, consider it the money you owe in exchange for the benefits you receive by virtue of being American. And if you think the value of your citizenship isn't what America is asking for it, consider the millions of people who risk their lives for the chance to have just a piece of those benefits: the availability of living-wage jobs, quality goods for sale, and safe homes to live in. If living in America is worth the lives of some people, why isn't citizenship here worth the 20% effective tax rate you pay?