Giving Thanks

Americans have always hated taxes. And for good reason.

There’s a fine line between legitimate taxation and the abuse of power. That line was crossed over the weekend, when lawmakers were handed a 3,600 page appropriations bill, within which was hidden a tiny but outrageous provision that would have given lawmakers the authority to examine any American’s tax form and distribute that information to the world.

This would have weakened our individual rights while strengthening the government’s power over us. Eagle-eyed staffers from Sen. Kent Conrad’s (search) office spotted the provision and Sen. Conrad had it stripped from the bill. Also, within the past week, Rep. Chris Cox (search) and his House colleagues succeeded in extending the moratorium on Internet taxes until November 1, 2007.

Some politicians had actually suggested that the government tax every single e-mail that we send out. But this won’t happen, at least for another three years. Now Rep. Cox is pushing for a permanent ban on Internet taxation.

So on this Thanksgiving Day (search), let’s give thanks to two politicians, one a Democrat and the other a Republican, both committed to preventing government from taking more power than it already has. There’s no other country I know of where politicians would spend political capital to reduce their own capital.

God bless America.

And that’s the Asman Observer.

Watch David Asman on "FOX News Live" weekdays at noon ET.