Is History Repeating Itself?

Before leaving Facebook I got into an argument with a friend of a friend over the healthcare bill. I was explaining the the new healthcare bill was not going to be free and would require massive tax increase. Her response was that taxes are always good because they raise money for the greater good. She cited the Roman Empire as a great example of a society made "great" because they levied taxes. Without taxes roads do not get paved, schools do not get built, etc.

This has been in the back of my mind since then so I decided to do some research on the Roman Empire. I came across the following article about the fall of the Roman Empire and was shocked to see the parallels between ancient Roman and modern America.

How Excessive Government Killed Ancient Rome.

It is rather long but is worth the read.

Here's the last paragraph of it to give you an idea what we're in for.

In conclusion, the fall of Rome was fundamentally due to economic deterioration resulting from excessive taxation, inflation, and over-regulation. Higher and higher taxes failed to raise additional revenues because wealthier taxpayers could evade such taxes while the middle class--and its taxpaying capacity--were exterminated. Although the final demise of the Roman Empire in the West (its Eastern half continued on as the Byzantine Empire) was an event of great historical importance, for most Romans it was a relief.