An Editorial on Taxes & Government Spending

I'm writing this article in response to my own article: Dollars & Cents: The Federal Budget - Do You Know How Your Taxes Are Being Spent?

In the comments section, Daniel Doyle accused me of some interesting opinions, none of which were substantiated by my article.
Even more interesting, my article was quite simple. Mr. Doyle is a fervent anti-tax libertarian, which may have clouded his views on what I wrote. Simply, my article told how the government gets its money, and also how the government spends it. If you're interested, here are the results:

Income

Individual Income - 47%
Payroll (FICA) - 35.5%
Corporate Income - 10%
Excise - 3%
Estate - 1%
Customs Duties - 1%
Other - 2.5%

Spending

Social Security - 22.4%
Defense - 18%
Welfare & Unemployment - 15%
Medicare - 11%
Medicaid - 11%
Debt interest - 8.5%
Education - 3.7%
Veterans Benefits - 2.8%
Department of Justice - 2%

Environment & Natural Resources - 1.4%
Agriculture - 1%
Foreign affairs - 1%
Others - 2.2%

In response to Mr. Doyle's comments, I feel I should share with you my true opinions on the federal budget. Feel free to criticize these, my true editorial opinions. I just ask that I am only criticized for the things I actually say, which is why I'm writing this article begin with. Here they are:

Does the federal government have a legal right to tax? Yes. I look to the Constitution, Article 1, Section 8. "Clause 1: The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States." Congress, who I elect, taxes me. When Congressmen raise taxes, people have a tendency to vote them out of office. We have a lot of control on how we're taxed. Then, the executive branch, also elected, collects the taxes. Then Congress spends them.

Should the federal government tax us? Yes. I need a lot of the things that the government provides. I appreciate not having to purchase weapons to defend myself. I prefer the government handling that. I generally like having roads to drive my car on.

Is government spending bloated? Yeah. There's a ton of inefficiency and overspending. But I have to think everything is worth it despite the inefficiencies.

Are taxes too high? Maybe. Maybe not. I see strengths in both the libertarian and socialist ways of thinking. Right now, we're probably pretty close to optimum.

Here are some of the things I have problems with:

83% of the government's income comes straight from my pocket. That's amazing. With all these businesses earning so much in profits, why are individuals taxed so much more than businesses? Granted, we individuals can take advantage of the tax disparity by investing in the stock market, but that only works for some. The government should get more of its money from businesses, and less from individual paychecks.

Social Security and Medicare combine for 33.4% of government spending, however senior citizens make up only 12% of the population (Source: 2005 US Census). That's painfully disproportionate. I'd like to see less government money spent on senior citizens, with more spent on a welfare safety net. Needy senior citizens would be served by the improved welfare safety net.

18% on defense. That's a lot of money! Probably too much.