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This is hardly the biggest deal in the world, but it caught my eye so I’m passing it along. It’s a “Taxpayer’s Statement” mailed to me by my congressman, John Bayard Taylor Campbell III, chairman of the Budget and Spending Task Force of the Republican Study Committee. Take a look at the highlighted lines:

Miscellaneous taxes sure are up! Or wait — the statement calls them “miscellaneous receipts.” Hmmm. Let’s look at the footnote:

This includes taxes from a variety of places including gaming activity fees, Dept. of Interior fees, Puerto Rico, and other sources.

“Other sources” may sound like it’s part of “taxes from a variety of places,” but it turns out it’s a completely independent clause. The vast bulk of that number, about $75 billion, is profit from the Federal Reserve’s investments that have been returned to the Treasury. But even if you read the footnote you wouldn’t know that. It just looks like the gummint is sucking up ever more of your money.

In the great game of misleading people about taxes, this is a misdemeanor at most. Maybe a parking ticket. Still, Campbell sure has gone to some lengths to make sure that taxes look high (and growing) and profit from the evil Fed is kept safely out of sight.

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DEFEND THE TRUTH. DEFEND JOURNALISM.

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things it doesn’t like—which is most things that are true.

We’ll say it loud and clear: At Mother Jones, no one gets to tell us what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please do your part and help us reach our $150,000 membership goal by May 31.

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