How Much Does It "Cost," Again?

You're held up on the street at gunpoint.   The mugger grabs your wallet and runs, leaving you with the $20 in your front pocket.

The hoodlum just gave you $20, right?   And the holdup cost him that much.   Right?

If you answered yes, you have a future in government or the media.   You can even be President!

On the other hand, if that seems ridiculous to you, you're probably like the rest of us whose blood boils when we hear government apparatchiks, big media and the President talk about how much a tax cut will "cost" the government.

It only "costs" the government if you believe that your entire income belongs to the government in the first place, and they just let you keep some of it.

The reality is the other way around.   Taxes are a cost for the people who pay the taxes.   It's their money to start with.   When the President talks about having to go out and borrow money to "pay for" a tax reduction, he's engaging in the intellectual dishonesty that denies this reality.

That's how the ruling class thinks.   Things really are worse than we imagine.