I made what has become an annual trek to North Carolina for a few days of golf last week and on the way we stopped at a convenience store in Tennessee for snacks.

I purchased a 20-ounce bottle of diet soda that was priced at 99 cents. (Of course you can buy a whole liter of the same stuff for 99 cents - sometimes 79 cents - but it won't fit in the cup holder. Do you suppose the soft drink companies know this?)

Anyway the final cost, with tax, was $1.06.

This got me thinking about taxes in general because there is a proposal afoot in the Indiana Legislature to raise our state sales tax to 6 percent. (Also because April 15, the deadline for filing your federal income tax return is looming.)

Six cents on a dollar.

When you first think about it, 6 cents doesn't sound like much. And it's already 5 cents, so it's just one penny more.

That's one way to look at it.

Or you could look at it differently. Like from 5 to 6 percent is a 20 percent increase in state sales tax.

Or you could ask yourself, wouldn't it be nice to get 6 percent on a certificate of deposit?

Or how about a 6 percent off on a new car? Don't real estate brokers get 6 or 7 percent for selling your house these days?

When you start looking at it in those terms, 6 percent seems like a lot.

But that's not the only tax that's likely to go up in Indiana.

Lawmakers are considering hiking taxes on cigarettes and casinos, suspending two tax cuts approved in 1999 and creating a new business income tax.

They've also bandied about the idea of an increase in the state income tax.

And we all have heard property taxes are going to go up, but nobody seems to know how much. The best guess right now is about 13 percent for the average homeowner, but nobody knows for sure.

All of the above is state stuff.

Then there's the whole federal thing to consider.

The percentages of taxes you pay to the federal government varies with how much you make, and of course there are all manner of exemptions and loopholes depending on your individual situation.

But the bottom line is, when you add up all the taxes you pay, federal, state and local, the average American ponies up approximately 35 percent of his or her income - 24 percent for the feds, 11 percent for the rest.

These are 2001 numbers, by the way.

That made May 3 "tax liberation day" in 2001. Tax liberation day is the day when you start earning money for yourself instead of for the different levels of government.

In 2000, May 1 was tax liberation day.

The day varies from state to state. Alaska had the earliest liberation from government financial servitude, April 16.

In Connecticut, taxpayers had to wait the longest for income freedom - May 25.

From 1992 to 2001, government statistics show that the federal tax burden has increased by 14 days while state and local taxes have stayed pretty much the same.

Bottom line is it takes the average worker four months' earnings to pay off their annual tax burden. Remember, that's the average worker.

People in higher tax brackets or in states with higher tax rates take even longer.

It wasn't always that way.

CBS MarketWatch notes that in 1900, government at all levels ate up about 9 percent of gross domestic product.

In 1930, the percentage was 12.

By 1960, the number was more than double at 27 percent.

In 2001, the number was more than 35 percent.

Seems to me this ever-increasing chunk of gross domestic product being gobbled up by government is a problem.

And isn't it absolutely amazing that anytime a politician mentions a tax cut, a whole gaggle of other politicians step forth in opposition.

They tell us the government simply can't afford to take that much less of our income. They warn us of deficits.

Hey guys, that's deficit spending, isn't it? The problem is not that taxpayers pay too little. The problem is that government spends too much.

We are playing a zero sum game here. There are only so many people and so many dollars in the private sector.

As government grows, it takes more people and dollars out of the private sector and places them in government.

Government produces nothing. I suppose one could say that government is some sort of service industry, but whatever service it provides, it's usually not very good at it.

Studies show that by the time a tax dollar goes to Washington and comes back to us in the form of a service, it's worth about a half dollar. Remember the $600 defense department toilet seat?

Not a great testimony to the efficiency of government, is it?

Anyone who says this is what the founding fathers envisioned when they spoke of a limited federal government is either a liar or a fool.

There is an old saying that there are only two certainties - death and taxes.

Well it won't be long until you will be able to save up a little of your own DNA. When the death knell is imminent, you can have your favorite lab clone you. That way, you can assure yourself a measured form of immortality.

Then, truly and for eternity, the only certainty in this country will be taxes. [[In-content Ad]]