The true cost of government
Every year around April 15 we hear reports about how many days it will take the average American to pay all taxes…federal, state, and local. This is referred to as Tax Freedom Day, and this year it happened on April 12. Caution: your results may vary depending upon what state you live in!
However, there is an even more frightening statistic that you may not know about…Cost of Government Day.
Every year the Americans for Tax Reform Foundation calculates this by adding up the cost of all taxes, the cost of federal government deficit spending, and the cost of complying with regulations. The last two items are included because, after all, you are paying for them.
This year’s results are not pretty. It took the average American until August 12 to cover this cost.
Americans will work for 103 days to pay for federal spending, 44 days for state and local spending and 77 days to cover the cost of the regulatory burden. [This is a total of 224 days.]
You can look here (at page 6) for a state by state analysis, but, I warn the residents of Connecticut not to look…you will not be free until September 10, the last state to become free. And I thought Connecticut was “open for business”.
And, comparing this to prior years is even uglier.
Looking back, we see that the Reagan years held the Cost of Government Day steady at July 4. Under the first President Bush, it moved forward 15 days. But Americans gained 15 days when the day moved back in the last six years of divided government with a Republican Congress against President Bill Clinton.
During the presidency of George W. Bush, however, Cost of Government Day moved forward to July 16 in 2008, from June 28 in 2000, costing taxpayers 18 days of extra labor. Since he took office, President Barack Obama has pushed the day all the way forward to Aug. 12. In other words, Americans are now working 27 more days per year to pay for government spending and regulations than on the day Mr. Obama became president. [emphasis supplied]
Gee, and it only took him two and one half years. Imagine what eight years would bring.
But, as of a week ago Friday, unless you live in Connecticut, you are free…free to spend every nickel you make going forward on yourself. But, hurry, you only have 141 days from August 12 before you will start working solely to pay for the cost of government again.
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Free at last, free at last for a few months anyways.
I believe Mr. Shared Sacrifice Malloy raised taxes just as much for next year- so whatever you’re losing in your paycheck- double that amount for next year.?? But to be fair, Malloy’s got lots of mouths to feed- those democrat votes may come early and often, but they don’t come cheap!
Wow it sucks to live in CT.
OK if this is the case I might as well stop working and go on the government dole. What the hell it’s
what so many already do in CT. which is why we are where we are.
Let’s reward the people who don’t work and villify the ones who do. What a country!!!!???
“Yea though I walk through the valley of evil capitalism, I shall fear no evil, for government regulations protect me by incapacitating business.” – the Book of EPA, chapter 1, verse1.
A simple solution: we need more Americans to share the burden, e.g. more legal immigration.
LEGAL being the key word.? Tell the Dems and the president, who are determined to build their voter base with illegal aliens, regardless of the cost to the country.
Perhaps through tax reform we could get some/most/all of those 50% or so of Americans who currently are riding in the wagon to get out and help.
before we start inviting people in, how about getting the ones already here to ante up?? and that applies to native born, legal and illegals.?? but before that happens, how about having gov’t trim it’s costs back to their contractual mandates.
Malloy’s Solution= Pull Harder
I told them, Dims, to no avail. You try.
This is a surprise?
Just wait until we need more than year to pay for govt!!
Explains why one of the fastest growing economies in the world is the US black-market (pay-under-the-table) economy.? The revolt is quietly happening and it helps and hurts at the same time.
“But in these days of wall-to-wall media coverage of unrestrained corporate bailouts with taxpayer?s dwindling resources, it isn?t hard to imagine why people are so hesitant to send any more of their hard-earned money to governments.”