Amusing (or not so amusing) tax story your ping list might find interesting -- moral of the story, there is no such thing as a "temporary" tax.
"Did you know that the Spanish-American war ended in 1898? No? Apparently, neither did the US Government. Over a hundred years ago, the government enacted a 3% tax on long distance phone calls to help finance the war.
And they didn't repeal the tax until now. "
I'd like to know: did we WIN or LOSE the Spanish-American War, now that we've finally concluded it? Spain, by the way, has been our ally for decades. I only wonder what they think about this finally-concluded war.