No, I think it is they dont see them. Withholding is the man behind the curtain when it comes to taxes. Most people never see the money, so they do not miss it. If they had to write a check (never going to happen), there would be a new rebellion against Washington
Dr. Guy,
I challenge you to this: ask them, liberal OR conservative, to take cuts to THEIR pet programs, and they'll have a bird.
A few years ago, a friend of mine who claimed to be a true conservative had a conniption because we were lobbying to fight the online charter school system in Wisconsin. The whole idea was to sell public schools to homeschoolers by offering them nice gifts (namely, free laptops) to help their children's learning experience. Basically, it meant higher taxes to compensate for the extra incoming students. And this is not a scenario I have seen once, but time and time again. We all want to cut the OTHER side's programs.
Until we're willing to accept that fiscal responsibility comes only when we ALL bite the bullet, we will not EVER bring spending under control.