Let’s get something straight right off the bat.  Once the government has our taxes, it has ceased to be our money.  Everywhere I turn, I hear outrage at how our tax dollars are being spent.  I hear people asking when we will get our money back from the likes of AIG, GM, Chrysler and everyone else who got in line for the government crapola train.  Why do we continue to refer to ourselves as being part of some giant group of investors who have gone into business together to make money?  We really had no choice.

Let’s look at what a tax is.  A tax is “a charge, usually of money imposed by authority on persons or property for public purposes”.  This certainly doesn’t sound like a great chance for me to get in on the ground floor of the next big thing.  This is money that has been collected by an authority, our government, be it Federal, State or Local.  As an authority, they will use that money as they see fit.   More often than not, it means it will be used in a manner that benefits them personally first and us, the public, somehow, somewhere down the road.  The only investing being done with tax dollars is by politicians on their own job security.  If I am an investor, shouldn’t I be able to choose what I am backing?  If all of these companies that were bailed out are such sure fire winners, why wouldn’t any greedy mega-corporations gobble up the opportunity first?

We will never see “our” tax dollars because they don’t exist.  As it is we will probably see less and less of what should be our money, the stuff that is in our wallet, due to higher taxes masquerading as social or environmental reform and whatever other cause can be manipulated to fill the coffers.  As long as Ecobomics are in play, the wants of the few will continue to be portrayed as the needs of the many.

If they’re lucky, the government will perhaps get some of their tax dollars (bailout and stinkulus money) back.  I’m not holding my breath for any dividend check to magically come my way in the mail though.  I have no illusions about the taxes I pay.  The ROI I see from all of this spending makes me want to say BFD.  I am not getting any money back and the euphemism is getting old.