Taxes Do Not "Cost" the Government Anything

From: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Business/Story?id=7562814&page=2

"Everything is on the table, including the tax treatment of health care plans," said Baucus. Limiting the tax exclusion for health benefits would be a ready source of revenue. The current exclusion costs the federal government $150 billion per year in revenue and more than $200 billion per year if payroll taxes are included in the calculation." (emphasis mine)

Since when does not taxing individuals COST the government anything? From reading this you would think that the government pays people money by not taxing them. Let's get something straight here. Taxes cost individuals money. Not taxing individuals costs the government nothing.

It is not a "cost" when the politicians do not get their rotten hands on the money that rightly belongs to individuals, unless and until the duly-elected officials legally pass tax laws. These tax laws then COST the INDIVIDUAL hard-earned money.

This is pure brainwashing to dupe individuals into believing that their hard-earned dollars belong to the government. This is not news reporting, but totalitarian propaganda.

Let us say here what is really happening: "Adding a new tax on health benefits would be a ready source of revenue to pay for only a fraction of the cost of the proposed government-run health care system, while discouraging private alternatives, especially among small businesses for whom providing health benefits become un-affordable. Taxing the untaxed health benefits of workers can bring in $150 billion per year, and more than $200 billion per year if payroll taxes are included in the calculation, to provide money for the politicians to spend instead of us."