I like the first sentence of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities annual "Where Do Our Federal Tax Dollars Go?" report. "The federal government collects taxes in order to finance various public services." That's it. That's what taxes are. They're not "money the government takes from you," but money the government collects in order to fund the services and social priorities that we, as a people, have chosen and preserved through our political system. You might not like paying taxes. But that's not the government's fault. It's your neighbors fault. The government is just doing what your neighbors have told it to do.CBPP, meanwhile, has a nice graphic clarifying how the government spends that money:
Over on Twitter, there've been a lot of tax-related jokes at the Teabaggers' expense. LizKulic says, "I pay taxes to fund medical research so fewer Americans die from potentially curable diseases." Matt Yglesias snarks, "My taxes pay for pirate-killing snipers." I noted the smoothly paved roads I biked over this morning. But at the end of the day, the graphic above shows what our taxes pay for: National defense, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and so on. if you want to pay less in taxes than you have to want to receive less in those things and convince your fellow voters to demand the same. Taxes aren't a mystery and they're not a punishment. They're the price we pay for the things we've directed our government to buy.
Over on Twitter, there've been a lot of tax-related jokes at the Teabaggers' expense. LizKulic says, "I pay taxes to fund medical research so fewer Americans die from potentially curable diseases." Matt Yglesias snarks, "My taxes pay for pirate-killing snipers." I noted the smoothly paved roads I biked over this morning. But at the end of the day, the graphic above shows what our taxes pay for: National defense, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and so on. if you want to pay less in taxes than you have to want to receive less in those things and convince your fellow voters to demand the same. Taxes aren't a mystery and they're not a punishment. They're the price we pay for the things we've directed our government to buy. 
