I'd prefer the government spent the same amount as taxing. Or it does very thoughtful borrowing. (There are arguments about whether a government should have deb

I'd prefer the government spent the same amount as taxing. Or it does very thoughtful borrowing. (There are arguments about whether a government should have debts, and I don't think that's particularly salient to your point, but I can only assume you want taxes higher than spending to either pay off debt, or save for a rainy day.) How do the rich think about money and spending? Everything is an investment (or an intentional extravagance to enjoy a little bit of that money.) So there's going to be literal investing (financial vehicles) but also influential investing to ensure things go the way they want. Money at that level doesn't magically translate to power without thoughtful investment. Anyway, I think we're saying some of the same things. But I don't like the statements saying that we can't examine taxes being paid or spent. We should be working towards that being more transparent - not necessarily that we need to make public the private financial details of everyone (or just the particularly rich), but that there's, at least on the government side, a clear picture of how the various tax policies are being exercised and adhered to.