>On the other hand, percipient working- and lower-middle-class
>people would be aware that it was they, and not the rich, who
>pay for the expenditures of the government. This awareness
>might dampen their enthusiasm even for programs from which
>they might be imagined to benefit, and certainly for those
>from which others benefited.
Well, not entirely. Rich people and corps wouldn't spend so much money on lobbyists if they weren't paying some of the bill - and W wouldn't have made such a high priority out of high-end income tax cuts. The federal tax system is still progressive, despite attempts to weaken its progressivity. And in Europe, VATs fund welfare states at working class expense, but the payback from spending is deemed politically worthwhile by most.
Doug