After VP-elect Biden’s admonistion to “Be patriotic, get with the deal” and pay more taxes, this is truly instructive:

It’s Not Taxpayers, But Tax Takers Who Aren’t Doing Their Fair Share

Since the war on terror began in 2001, Washington has sounded an intermittent drumbeat for the wealthy to make a greater “sacrifice” in the form of higher taxes. The dubious charge is that these taxpayers have been shirking a duty performed in other conflicts.
America is not undertaxed. Washington is overspent — but not as a result of the current conflict. The sacrifice truly called for is on the spending side. And it would not have to be large.

Last year’s federal deficit was $161 billion. As large as it sounds in nominal terms, it was 1.2% of GDP and just 5.9% of total federal spending. Less than a 6% cut in spending would have eliminated the federal deficit.

So the next time the call for “sacrifice” comes from Washington, America’s response should be: Lead by example.
The accusation bears reviewing, and its inaccuracy needs to be refuted. An examination of the previous three wartime periods undercuts the argument that the tax burden is comparatively low and being avoided by the wealthy.

After going through a specific factual analysis of these figures, a conclusion is inevitable:

In sum, an analysis of comparable economic impact shows Washington today is taking a higher level of income taxes with a greater focus on upper-income groups. At the same time, it has increased overall spending to its highest post-WWII level and decreased defense spending to its lowest level since before WWII.

Washington’s talk of “sacrifice” is no more than a stalking horse in the left’s hunt for higher taxes. This call for higher taxes is not so much about funding the war against terrorism as it is about the left’s desire to use the tax code to redistribute income.

Dang! There’s that income redistribution thing again. A pretty widespread and consistent pattern for those who are oh-so-quick to deny any Marxian influence.

The contrast between taxes and spending during the current and past three conflicts could not be starker. And it could not demonstrate more clearly the left’s divergent view of taxes. It differs fundamentally from the rest of America’s.

For most, taxes are a necessary evil as disagreeable and inevitable as death. For the left, they are a good to be pursued, a means to an end. Not simply needed to expand government, they are sought to smooth the perceived inequities arising from a market economy’s distribution of wealth.

Washington’s call for “sacrifice” therefore rings hollow on every front.

How hollow? VERY!

America is not undertaxed. Washington is overspent — but not as a result of the current conflict. The sacrifice truly called for is on the spending side. And it would not have to be large.

Last year’s federal deficit was $161 billion. As large as it sounds in nominal terms, it was 1.2% of GDP and just 5.9% of total federal spending. Less than a 6% cut in spending would have eliminated the federal deficit.

So the next time the call for “sacrifice” comes from Washington, America’s response should be: Lead by example. (Emphasis added)

Oh well. This sure as hell isn’t what’s going to happen with the B.O. administration…but it’ll make grist for the mill IF some GOP’ers discover some cojones and return to the example of the one and only Gipper, Ronaldus Magnus.