On Taxation and Representation

I'm spending the afternoon immersed in revolutionary-era Boston again. I am charged with the simple task of issuing a 1,000-word rejoinder to either Bernard Bailyn or Edmund Morgan on the subject of the ideology of freedom in this period. Nice, easy assignments in this class.

As I cast about for something original to say on this topic, let me take heart from Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), who has shown us all that it is not impossible to put a unique spin on 18th-century arguments. At a recent conference (CPAC), emcee Bachmann asked the eager crowd of conservative activists,

I just wondered that if our founders thought taxation without representation was bad, what would they think of representation WITH taxation?

What indeed.