IRS apologizes for targeting tea party groups

[Simon_Jester]

I'm very leery of arguments about "double taxation" ("this money was taxed already,") especially from people who claim to be economics-savvy.

Should we not have gasoline taxes, because motorists were taxed once on their income already and shouldn't have to pay taxes again when they buy gasoline?

Or, conversely, should the owner of the gas station not have to pay income taxes, because his income comes from the sale of gasoline which was already taxed?

This becomes circular and pointless; we already know money circulates around the economy and will wind up having taxes levied on it multiple times. It's ridiculous to pretend that a given dollar bill should only be "taxed once" during its long voyage from the printing press to death-by-washing-machine.

That said, this is specific to complaints about "double taxation" and has nothing to do with the larger argument about taxing political organizations.