@Popehat that was my tax professor's theory in law school. Paint your house rather than hire a painter? You should pay the tax he didn't. — Lawyer Cat* (@LawyerCat_) January 28, 2015

Astoundingly un-American ideas like this caused a stir on Twitter thanks to an article in The Nation and a New York Times blog post

That epically ridiculous retweet is a quote from — wait for it — The Nation. http://t.co/1i9oRqnvgr — Blasphemous Hat (@Popehat) January 28, 2015

@Popehat All your stuff belongs to the government. It's just letting you rent it. — Konabianca (@konabianca) January 28, 2015

This ridiculous snippet from the article at The Nation is going viral.

And as Josh Barro points out, single-earner households are getting a bonus another way: the labor a mother or father performs in the home caring for a kid or wiping down a counter is unpaid and therefore goes untaxed. When two parents work outside the home and pay someone to watch their children, both those incomes are taxed.

The link in that snippet points back to a New York Times blog post by Josh Barro with an equally ridiculous smart take.

President Obama’s proposal to expand a tax break for working parents with children under 5 has some conservatives criticizing it for discriminating against stay-at-home parents. Those parents wouldn’t be able to take the proposed tax credit equal to 50 percent of child care expenses, up to a maximum of $3,000 per child. What the critics fail to see is that the playing field wasn’t level to begin with. The tax code is already hugely distorted in favor of stay-at-home parenting: Labor outside the home is taxed; household work, such as stay-at-home parenting, is not. (emphasis added)

You see, by being a stay at home parent, you are a recipient of government benevolence because your “labor” is not taxed. Funny. We were always under the impression that it was income that was taxed, not labor. But the moonbats are actually arguing that by performing labor without income, you are technically stealing—or at least receiving benefits—from the government. Your labor is not your own.

Couples w/ 1 job are cheating the rest of us "@MZHemingway: Um. <blinking eyes rapidly> pic.twitter.com/b2zKc5nS4m” — Brian Faughnan (@BrianFaughnan) January 28, 2015

@BrianFaughnan we are, it's awesome. It's not that my children motivate me to stay home–it's sticking it to the man. @MZHemingway — Grant (@GrantGambling) January 28, 2015

@BrianFaughnan @MZHemingway it's not that the gov't basically owns you. It's just that…well OK, the gov't basically owns you. — Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) January 28, 2015

.@BrianFaughnan @MZHemingway Hey, remember when Josh Barro thought he'd be able to have a successful career pretending to be a conservative? — Moe Lane (@moelane) January 28, 2015

@moelane @BrianFaughnan @MZHemingway All labor belongs to the State and it is only its forbearance that has allowed the current situation. — Doug Stewart (@zamoose) January 28, 2015

@shoutingboy @MZHemingway Coming soon: "Kid's allowances: vast untapped source of payroll tax revenue" — Matthew Stinson (@stinson) January 28, 2015

@charlescwcooke @MZHemingway My stay-at-home mom wife loves the description of her day: "caring for a kid or wiping down a counter." — Casey Mattox (@CaseyMattoxADF) January 28, 2015

@scottlincicome @Heminator @MZHemingway Whenever I change a diaper or use the weedwacker, I always chuckle about how I'm cheatin' the taxman — Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) January 28, 2015

@brithume @MZHemingway I just walked my own dog. Could have paid a dog walker! Where should I send the check? — virginiahume (@virginiahume) January 28, 2015

Hmm. Under the Nation's theory, does marital sex represent tax-cheating, if you live in the Nevada counties where prostitution is legal? — Blasphemous Hat (@Popehat) January 28, 2015

@Popehat if you would buy sex if you were unmarried, then theoretically yes — Ιχθύων (@cicero_agricola) January 28, 2015

Crazy.