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Thus the war tax comes in to balance out apathy with pain. A fight with ISIS is coming, whether you agree with it or not. Barack Obama’s supposed reluctance for war is a myth; the president has bombed more nations than his predecessor. When push comes to shove, Democrats capitulate on warfare every time. Ask John Kerry.

Prudence toward war used to be a Republican value. Those Taftian days are long gone. The theme of the recent Conservative Political Action Conference in DC was less about limited government than it was about baying for blood. From Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker to Texas Senator Ted Cruz, every promising GOP candidate opined for slaughter like they were cheering on their local football team. And don”€™t think the provocations were exclusive to ISIS bastards. The disdain goes equally for Iran (who is locked in a battle with the Islamic State) and Russia.

Papa Buchanan had the Republicans”€™ number when he wrote, “€œ[L]isten for long to GOP foreign-policy voices, and you can hear calls for war on ISIS, al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, the Houthi rebels, the Assad regime, the Islamic Republic of Iran, to name but a few.”€ How America is supposed to pull off victory on multiple fronts is a question the big elephant won”€™t answer.

The First American warned us that taxes aren”€™t going away. And if the GOP is our only hope for stopping Washington excess, it’s time they put their money where their mouth is. No more free wars. No more having our children pay for missiles and M9s. Force the people to pick up the tap for their excesses. Maybe then, the desire for warfare will recede.

The sad thing is, a war tax will never fly with the American public. Decades of deficit-financed military campaigns have numbed us to the real costs of sending men and women off to die. At this point in our republic, bankruptcy will be the only thing that throws a wrench in the war machine.

It didn”€™t have to be this way.