>>The money for nothing trend is the thing killing any positive effect higher taxes might have IMO.
>
>So, exactly what is "money for nothing?"

There's more on other sides, too, just from examples I remember, or know from here:

- water billing outsourced to a company six states away; now there's a billing service fee (2$) on your water bill (7$)
- various fixed items on your electricity bill
- extra fees for services you never needed, never asked for, probably do nothing for you, but someone invented them and they now charge you for. Keywords: assurance, certified by, franchise
- administrative fees - like charging $20 for something that you and I know consists of filling five textboxes and pressing tab each time.
- when a bureaucracy makes a mistake but in the end you pay for it (and I don't always mean gov't - one such mistake was the reason why my daughter cancelled her credit card; not only the mistake but the attitude that went with it)