The surrealistic level of over-taxation and government over-spending simply does not strike a clear chord with most people. The hidden taxes, the income tax withholding structure, the taxes of unfunded mandates for citizens, the distortion of the value of money -- all these seem too abstract in times of real financial worry. Those of us who dabble in math can whip up scary numbers like the per capita national debt or the rise of inflation over the last fifty years.