Here's a taste of life under an Emperor. We can be put in jail for not paying taxes. $10 billion of those taxes can be given unconditionally to a dictator in a far-away country, say, Pakistan, because Dick and George say they get it. And there ain't a damn thing you or Congress or anyone else can do about it. Because now it's Dick and George's money.

According to the Washington Post article:

U.S. assistance to the key anti-terrorism and nuclear armed ally _ which has totaled nearly $10 billion since 2001 _ is governed by legislative requirements that could trigger automatic aid cutoffs, but all are covered by locked-in presidential waivers, said officials familiar with a government-wide review.

Those waivers exempt Pakistan from aid restrictions.

If you look closely, you'll find a lot of those waivers. And Presidential directives. And signing statements. And there ain't a damn thing you or the Congress or anyone else can do about it. Because Dick wants George to be an Emperor, and y'all to be an Empire. An expensive enterprise, that. So far in human history, there's no nation that could ever really afford it.

Being an empire inevitably costs more than any one nation can produce, and its subjected sub-nations invariably hate the imposition, which usually leads to unrest, often civil war, and as long as it's an empire and handled militarily, rarely offers those riches and resources so desired by the invading powers.

So Pakistan, run by a military dictatorship, is actually "on the road to democracy"? And guess who's footing the bill for that democracy?

"Bush has been obligated by law since 2002 to issue waivers for most assistance to Pakistan, declaring that direct payments to Islamabad are in the U.S. national interest because they promote the transition to democratic rule. The officials familiar with the aid review conceded Musharraf's recent actions are at odds with the process of democratization but noted that unless Congress enacts new legislation or passes the new budget, the existing waivers continue to apply."

And the war in Iraq is also touted for promoting democracy. That's the whole point.

Building an empire. Democracy by force. And you pay ... or else...