And another thing...it's the opportunity cost that counts, not what the gov't is doing with the money. If you fail to pay your taxes, the gov't will charge you penalties and INTEREST. You can't say that you don't want to pay the interest because you did not invest the money (and thus have growth) while you kept "their" money.
>> it’s the opportunity cost that counts
I understand that, but we’re talking about the real value of the “set aside”. Actually, the “set aside” is never set aside, but spent - so, there’s no real value to speak of.