irritatedGuess what, Ms. Nelson? "Tax" is a dirty word. It's a euphemism for government theft at gunpoint, in the name of doing something someone else thinks is important enough to justify it. (Don't believe me about being theft at gunpoint? Try not paying your taxes sometime. I guarantee the people who come to take your property will be armed.) It's e a necessary evil, but that it's necessary makes it no less evil - and mandates that we minimize the evil as much as possible.
People cheat on their taxes because, unlike Ms. Nelson's contention, they don't believe that we get our money's worth with our tax dollars. What we get is waste and inefficiency, and our money goes down lots of ratholes to benefit people that do not contribute anything just so they'll keep voting for the ones who give them their bread and circuses.
There are a very few things that should be done by government, at the cost of taking the fruits of the citizens' labors by force, because they are best done that way. Our government is well past that point. Until we do get what we pay for with our taxes, we'll have lots of folks who feel good about cheating. I don't cheat on my taxes - it's too easy to get caught and the penalties are too severe - but I understand those who do.
