Other peoples taxes

Megan McArdle makes this observation over at Instapundit:

people are more interested in levying taxes on others than they are in paying taxes themselves.

This seems a bit like stating the obvious (and I understand that sometimes you do have to do that) and I would bet money that people are also more interested in other people being caught for speeding, drink driving and littering than they are in favor of they themselves being caught. I would further wager this is the case for all activities that are regarded as punitive. I say that with the thought that most people do regard taxes of any kind as punitive. If that were not the case, we would not need an IRS, everyone would just give the government the amount it asks for and no one would ever need to be audited.