Government Money?

I'm so sick of hearing it. On the radio, even on Fox, they talk about companies like Chrysler and GM receiving billions of dollars of "Government Money". On TV they talk about the massive stimulus bill as billions of dollars in "Government Money". News Flash: There is no such thing as Government Money.

Once upon a time students in public schools used to learn about how the U.S. Government worked in classes called "Civics" or even "Government". Apparently I was among the last batch of students to attend one of those classes. So, for the benefit of current and future generations here's a very short civics lesson:

1. Government has no money of its own;
2. Government gets money from taxes paid by you and from borrowing;
3. It's only possible for government to borrow money because lenders know government will tax you in order to repay the loan;
4. Whether government taxes or borrows it's actually your money at stake;
5. The more money government gives to others the more you will eventually have to pay.

It's really that simple. Class dismissed.