[T]he burden of government is not measured by how much it taxes, but by how much it spends.
Category: taxation
The first task of government
The men who administer public affairs must first of all see that everyone holds onto what is his, and that private men are never deprived of their goods by public men.
The single biggest intrusion
The income tax is the biggest single intrusion suffered by the American people. It forces every worker to be a bookkeeper, to open his records to the government, to explain his expenses, to fear conviction for a harmless accounting error. Compliance wastes billions of dollars. It
penalizes savings and creates an enormous drag on the U.S. economy. It is incompatible with a free society, and we aren’t libertarians if we tolerate it.
Subsidies
Subsidies entail politicians’ taking the citizen’s paycheck and then using it to buy his submission.
Servitude
Government is saying to the average citizen every January 1: ‘For the next five months you’ll be working for us, for goals we shall determine. Is that clear? After May 5 you may look after your own needs and ambitions, but report back to us next January. Now move along.’ … If nearly half of what you make is spent by someone else, that means that half your work time is spent working for someone else. Call me a radical, but I think that comes dangerously close to being a form of indentured servitude.
Freedom from parasites
The workingman needs no improvement in his condition except to be freed from the parasites who are living on him.
Producers must have rights
The forgotten man … ought to be first and always remembered … What … becomes of the natural rights of the one whose energies are to be diverted from his own interests?
Politicians and pickpockets
The difference between a politician and a pickpocket is that the pickpocket doesn’t get indignant when you tell him to keep his hands to himself.
Government vs. the people
You can’t be for big government, big taxes, and big bureaucracy and still be for the little guy.
Spending other people’s money
Nothing is easier than the expenditure of public money. It doesn’t appear to belong to anyone. The temptation is overwhelming to bestow it on somebody.