Matt Collins
08-14-2008, 04:15 PM
"Cost of Government Day" Comes At Last
You've been working hard all year -- for the State, according to Americans for Tax Reform (ATR).
"Cost of Government Day" is the name ATR gives to "the date of the calendar year on which the average American worker has earned enough gross income to pay off his or her share of spending and regulatory burdens imposed by government on the federal, state and local levels."
This year, Cost of Government Day arrived -- finally -- on July 16. Congratulations -- you can start working for yourself now.
According to ATR: "Working people must toil on average 197 days out of the year just to meet all costs imposed by government.
"In other words, the cost of government consumes 53.9 percent of national income."
This has been a bad year for taxpayers. 2008's Cost of Government Day falls four days later than last year.
And it's an excruciating 17 days longer than 2000, when the COGD came on June 29.
Even worse, since 1977, it's the fifth-latest date ever. Only four times -- in 1982, 1983, 1992, and 1993 -- has Cost of Government Day fallen later than July 16.
According to ATR, the reasons why Cost of Government Day is so late is simple:
"The driving factor for this development is the fact that all components of the cost of government -- federal spending, state and local spending, and regulation -- are now increasing faster than national income."
Here's a breakdown:
* FEDERAL SPENDING: The average American worker will have to labor 83.7 days to pay for federal spending, which is now consuming 22.9 percent of national income.
* STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT SPENDING: The average American worker must labor 50.5 days to pay for state and local government spending.
* COSTS OF REGULATION: The average American worker must labor 62.6 days this year to cover the costs of government regulation.
Unfortunately, these expenses continue to grow faster than the economy. Until advocates of liberty and small government become effective enough to change the country's directions, spend-crazy politicians will continue to bring us ever-later Cost of Government Days.
The best comment on this mess comes from Dr. Mark J. Perry in his excellent blog Carpe Diem:
"Isn't it ironic that we celebrate Independence Day on July 4 to recognize our rejection of oppressive British regulation, mercantilism and taxation, and yet the typical American now works until the middle of July to pay for Big Government? In other words, we celebrate our declaration of independence from the British government in early July before we are even free from the burden of our current government!"
(Source: Americans for Tax Reform study:
http://www.atr.org/national/cogd/2008/2008cogdindex.html (https://webmail.cumulus.com/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.atr.org/national/cogd/2008/2008cogdindex.html) )
Carpe Diem:
http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2008/07/citizens-more-taxed-now-than-under- (https://webmail.cumulus.com/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2008/07/citizens-more-taxed-now-than-under-)
king.html
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You've been working hard all year -- for the State, according to Americans for Tax Reform (ATR).
"Cost of Government Day" is the name ATR gives to "the date of the calendar year on which the average American worker has earned enough gross income to pay off his or her share of spending and regulatory burdens imposed by government on the federal, state and local levels."
This year, Cost of Government Day arrived -- finally -- on July 16. Congratulations -- you can start working for yourself now.
According to ATR: "Working people must toil on average 197 days out of the year just to meet all costs imposed by government.
"In other words, the cost of government consumes 53.9 percent of national income."
This has been a bad year for taxpayers. 2008's Cost of Government Day falls four days later than last year.
And it's an excruciating 17 days longer than 2000, when the COGD came on June 29.
Even worse, since 1977, it's the fifth-latest date ever. Only four times -- in 1982, 1983, 1992, and 1993 -- has Cost of Government Day fallen later than July 16.
According to ATR, the reasons why Cost of Government Day is so late is simple:
"The driving factor for this development is the fact that all components of the cost of government -- federal spending, state and local spending, and regulation -- are now increasing faster than national income."
Here's a breakdown:
* FEDERAL SPENDING: The average American worker will have to labor 83.7 days to pay for federal spending, which is now consuming 22.9 percent of national income.
* STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT SPENDING: The average American worker must labor 50.5 days to pay for state and local government spending.
* COSTS OF REGULATION: The average American worker must labor 62.6 days this year to cover the costs of government regulation.
Unfortunately, these expenses continue to grow faster than the economy. Until advocates of liberty and small government become effective enough to change the country's directions, spend-crazy politicians will continue to bring us ever-later Cost of Government Days.
The best comment on this mess comes from Dr. Mark J. Perry in his excellent blog Carpe Diem:
"Isn't it ironic that we celebrate Independence Day on July 4 to recognize our rejection of oppressive British regulation, mercantilism and taxation, and yet the typical American now works until the middle of July to pay for Big Government? In other words, we celebrate our declaration of independence from the British government in early July before we are even free from the burden of our current government!"
(Source: Americans for Tax Reform study:
http://www.atr.org/national/cogd/2008/2008cogdindex.html (https://webmail.cumulus.com/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.atr.org/national/cogd/2008/2008cogdindex.html) )
Carpe Diem:
http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2008/07/citizens-more-taxed-now-than-under- (https://webmail.cumulus.com/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2008/07/citizens-more-taxed-now-than-under-)
king.html
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