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: Begging the Question

I do not think it means what you think it means.

By "Milbarge" and "Fitz-Hume"

Milbarge named this blog after a turn of phrase which annoyed him. There is a phrase that has always bugged me, but it is popping up more frequently as of late and so my annoyance level has spiraled upwards. Anytime someone talks about the taxpayers being asked to foot the bill for a bailout, my immediate reaction is always "No one is asking."

Taxpayers are not "asked" for anything. Taxpayers are told where the money the government has collected is going.

No one gets asked what tax rate they would like to pay. They get told each year what the new brackets are.

The IRS doesn't ask people to pay taxes that are owed. The IRS tells people that owed taxes will be garnished from their wages.

I am not under any delusions that every single spending measure of the federal government should be put to a nationwide vote. But if any commentators or pundits actually believe that the taxpayers are in any way asked, then I feel it is my duty to inform them that that word doesn't mean what they think it means.

Full post as published by Begging the Question on March 17, 2009 (boomark / email).