The federal and state governments do not have any wealth of their own! They do not create wealth. The best thing they can do is to create a climate that enables businesses to prosper and grow. Unfortunately, one of the worst things they can do is to take an excessive amount of money from individuals and businesses and "invest" it in programs that are unproductive and of dubious value.

Every last brass farthing spent by our governmental agencies comes from those of us who work. Our politicians would have you believe that your very livelihood, prosperity, and well-being depend on the largesse of some government program or another.

In actuality, working men and women are the ones who create all wealth. Every penny of taxes collected by our governmental bodies comes from us.

Corporate taxes are ultimately paid by consumers who purchase the goods and services provided by businesses. When you buy many goods and services, you pay a sales tax with income that has already been taxed by the government.

When you invest in your regular 401k and it increases in value, you're going to eventually be taxed on the amount you withdraw for your retirement.

When you buy stocks, you buy them with money on which you've already been taxed. If you sell them for a profit - which is your goal - you will pay capital gains tax on the amount of "gain" you have realized.

Guess who wants to tax your 401k and other retirement accounts now? The answer is Nancy Pelosi, who wants a windfall tax on all stock profits, including retirement funds, to benefit the 12 million illegal immigrants and other unemployed minorities so they can experience a higher standard of living like the rest of the Americans!

During the Democratic primaries this year, we have witnessed Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama tripping over each other, touting all the things government is going to do for you. From health care to education to the mortgage crisis, they are telling you that government must help you out of your difficulties - self-imposed or not.

The other shameless activity they have been involved in is fomenting a level of class envy not seen in recent times. Sure, it's normal to be jealous of someone who has something better than we do. I'd like a snazzier car, a snowmobile, an ATV, a bigger boat, and a few other toys. And I can say I'm even a bit jealous of those who have those things. But I'm not really all that jealous, because I don't have the payments that go along with all the toys.

But envy is far worse than jealousy; it goes far beyond jealousy to the point we don't believe people are worthy of or earned what they have. Pure envy allows you to justify taking the property of others and giving it to someone else.

That's what Hillary, Barack, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and a whole cohort of other liberals and even state politicos in Minnesota have been trying to sell you with their mantra of raising the taxes on "those who have benefitted unfairly." They are playing every envy card they can find in the deck.

By the way, isn't envy one of the seven deadly sins?

I have often said that I don't mind paying taxes. What gets my dander up is that the average taxpayer has very little input into where and how our tax dollars are spent. Too often, our public servants use our tax dollars to grease the collective palms of those interests who can bring in the most votes. We've heard a great deal about the excessive pork barrel spending contained in congressional earmarks. And now we've been told we're just going to have to "live with it."

Education represents a major expenditure at federal and state levels - the largest budget item in Minnesota. And last week it was revealed that high school graduation rates nationwide average less than 70 percent and are as low as 25 percent in certain urban areas!

This is a national disgrace and an unsatisfactory return on our collective investment. I'm willing to bet, however, that we will be told this cannot be fixed without a significant additional investment.

On March 8, Minn. Sen. Larry Pogemiller and Rep. Phyllis Kahn, incumbent DFLers, held a town hall meeting in Minneapolis. One of Sen. Pogemiller's statements reflects how much trust some of our elected public servants place in us - the wage earners and taxpayers who provide their salaries and per diem, in addition to funding all their pet projects.

Sen. Pogemiller observed, "I think it's simplistic and na•ve to say people can spend 'their' (quote marks added for emphasis) money better than the government. ... The notion is ... trite, wrongheaded and anti-democratic."

I believe Sen. Pogemiller's remarks are arrogant, insulting, simplistic, and truly anti-democratic.

It's time for every citizen to really understand what government is doing "to" us in the name of doing something "for" us.

Well, that's what's been on my mind.