All kidding aside, an important and very efficient check on such abuses of power would be to generate all necessary revenue through consumption taxes rather than through taxes on ‘income’ (whatever that is), savings, wages and capital. Taxing consumption at the final stage rather than income would remove all of the special interest pleading, corporate contributions and corruption as well as the means utilized by government to achieve the unachievable: abstract and redistributionist equality. Automatic checks would be in place since overtaxing would destroy consumption and the revenue generated. The state would be forced to economize to a degree while it’s cost would be almost completely transparent to the man in the street. High consumers would pay more while savings and capital formation among wage earners trying to save in order to start businesses or provide eduations for their kids would get a tremendous boost. There is an inherent, objective measure of real justice in such a system aside from a praqtical check on the state sadly missing from our current system. No one can avoid consumption and the taxes laid on consumption. Criminals, drug dealers, pimps and other conspicuous consumers would finally be paying into the sytem. The government’s tendency to lay taxes on taxes, i.e. current excise taxes, would no longer be necessary in order to achieve constructive social goals like reducing fuel consumption. The regulatory burden would be greatly reduced, as well.