On that rainy January day three and half years ago when Matski finally conceded that the nightmare of Bush the Younger’s coronation was no dream, the hope that he would at least pay less in taxes kept him going. So lazy was that summer before the nightmare’s true apotheosis, Matski gladly accepted his $300 in federal hush money, even laughed the loudest when the last of it paid an aging hippie for a pocketful of oregano.

Fast-forward to fall 2002—Matski’s circumstances have changed. Unemployed for six months and mentally preparing to take up residence on his mother’s couch, he finally found work: contract work. He became the producer of an infomercial. The paltry sum it put in the bank was far better than the proverbial boot to the teeth. It didn’t quite pay the bills, but it got Matski through 2003.

And then came April 2004 and the annual knock by Young King George’s IRS goon squad. Despite his earnest bookkeeping of every mile driven, every burger consumed and every shirt pressed in the service of his program, TurboTax told Matski that he still owed $822 to the IRS. $822? People living check to check don’t have $822 laying around waiting to pay in taxes.

Matski is not alone. In 2002, 6 percent of Americans reported self-employment income. Many of them are your classic entrepreneurs: people cleaning homes, operating small retail businesses, working as artists. Fifty-three percent of these people earned less than $15,000.

Self-employment income is taxed like business income—the 15.3 percent is taken before the calculation of personal income tax. This is called a double tax. It’s a cruel world for the self-employed—all of Bush’s tax reductions have helped the comfortable middle class and the wealthy, the median voters and the Friends of Bush.

The official White House Web site says that the president’s tax initiative have led to a “reduction on taxes for every American who pays income taxes.” Misleading. While 33 million Americans didn’t pay taxes in 2003 because they made too little to pay, that’s just personal income taxes. Self-employment income, no matter how much, no matter how poor its earner, is taxed at the same rate. So while a person making $12,000 a year at Wal-Mart might not pay taxes, a painter making the same amount will be asked to cough up almost $2,000 cash.

Look. Matski’s all for taxes. Roads, schools and firefighters are remarkably nice to have around. But we need a way to cut some slack to the people—the artists, small business people, laborers—who are truly carrying on the American Dream. We need a president who can see the way.