American Olympic medal winners have to pay taxes on their winnings. My first thought was this is crazy. It hurts the US and the winners by embarrassing us at a world event, shows how crazy our tax system really is and penalizing success of the medal winners.

America is one of very few countries that taxes the winnings of Olympic athletes. This is embarrassing. We are subtly telling the world we don't care about our winners. Or that we only care as long as they pay for the right to be winners. We must look like uncaring parents chirping out an "atta-boy" as we pay attention to other things.

How crazy is it that we demand payment from Americans who represent us, and do so at the highest level of international competition. The US tax system is totally screwy and having American's who put us in the best light pay the price show how screwy it is.

When you force Olympic winners to pay a tax on winnings you penalize winning. You subtly say, you can win but it will cost you. Most Olympians are amateurs, they don't have the professional salary or big budget endorsement deals. When you slap a tax on the government is saying, hey we don't care that much.

US taxing Olympic medal winners is crazy because it embarrasses us on the world stage, reveals how crazy our tax system really is, and sends a negative message to our young athletes representing us.