SEE, this man eats with sinners and tax collectors." Tax collectors are never popular. Many want to adopt a flat tax and dismantle the Internal Revenue Service.

"I'm proud to be paying taxes in the United States," said Arthur Godfrey. "The only thing is I could be just as proud for half the money."

"President Clinton said he looks forward to the day a citizen can call the IRS and get the right answer to a question," said Jay Leno. "I look forward to the day I can call the IRS and get a voice that says, Sorry, that number has been disconnected.'"

And there was that famous reply that boxer Joe Louis gave when a sportswriter asked, "Who hit you the hardest during your ring career?" His reply: "Uncle Sam."

People don't like tax collectors. Things haven't changed as much as you think. Archeologists uncovered a 3,000-year tablet in Iraq. It had on it this inscription: "You can have a Lord, you can have a King, but the man to fear is the tax collector."