The young George Washington led a troop of American colonists to war in the mid 1750’s.  No, this was not the American Revolution. The Revolution would be fought more than twenty years later. The Americans weren’t fighting against the British but with them. They supported British operations to defeat the French for control of North America in the conflict known as the French and Indian War. Americans, many of British descent, preferred British rule rather than French. The British/American efforts were successful, and the American colonists remained under the British, as was their wish.

Wars must be paid for. Protecting an empire doesn’t come cheap. At the end of the war, the British empire was one of the largest in the world, but also had one of the largest debts, about half of which was incurred in defense of the American colonies. The British government passed certain measures to raise taxes and pay off the debt, including a tax on tea. Certain American leaders pointed out that Americans had no representation in the British Parliament that decided on those taxes. Differences led to the American Revolution, with its rallying cry “no taxation without representation.”

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, Americans, through their representatives in Congress, voted to reduce taxes. Shortly afterward, terrorists launched the World Trade Center attacks. Americans strongly supported military action to deal with the terrorists.

The time arrived to pay for the actions against terrorists, as well as for programs like Social Security, Medicare, and the replacement of the country’s aging bridges and highways. Americans made their displeasure felt against any restoration of taxes. It seems we don’t like taxation with representation anymore than we do taxation without representation. This appears to be true even if the taxes are for the support of programs we have voted for through our elected representatives and that are quite popular.