You know what never fails to make me a bit nauseous? People fretting about our government not getting enough money should Bush's tax cuts be made permanent. David Broder does just that today in this column where he complains about the President trying to hide the "cost" of his tax cuts.

What is amazing to me is how Broder talks about these tax cuts, as though it were money being taken away from Americans. That just isn't true. In fact, it is 180 degrees from the truth. What Broder doesn't say in his column is that while the Bush tax cuts deny the government $1.35 trillion, that money does not disappear.

Where does it go? It doesn't "go" anywhere. It stays in the wallets, purses and financial accounts of Americans across the country. What Broder also fails to mention is that when a significant amount of tax burden is lifted from the backs of Americans federal tax receipts go up. More money in the pockets of Americans means more economic activity, and when there is more economic activity the government rakes in more tax dollars. Broder's analysis only considers the money lost on the one form of taxation that is being cut. He doesn't mention the impact that tax cut has on the government's other forms of taxation.

But even if Bush's tax cuts didn't increase overall tax receipts, the fact remains that our government spends far too much money. I think we can all agree, regardless of political persuasion, that our government wastes billions upon billions of dollars each and every year. Politicians from both sides of the political spectrum routinely call for fiscal responsibility, yet few of them back those words up with action. But one way we can force them to exercise a bit of frugality is to limit the amount of money they have at their disposal. Broder implies that the government losing this $1.35 trillion is a bad thing while not even bothering to explain to us why the government needs that money.

Our government spends inordinate amounts of our money every year. A lot of it, I'll grant, is necessary spending. But it is also true that a lot of it isn't necessary at all, and this $1.35 trillion that our government will "lose" over the next several years doesn't even approach the amount of money they should lose.

(via reader Chris Runge)