Newsmax Report on cost of government

Reform our Government Or Lose Our Freedom.

Last year Americans Worked Till Aug. 12 to Pay for Government

"Cost of Government Day" fell on Aug. 12 this year, meaning the average American worked until that date to pay for government spending and regulations.

Each year, Americans for Tax Reform publishes its Cost of Government Day (COGD) report, and this year the organization calculated that Americans on average worked 224 days to pay for local, state, and federal government spending and regulations.
This year marks the third straight year that COGD has come in August. Prior to the Obama administration, the latest it had ever fallen was July 21.
"Americans have lost 29 days of the calendar year thanks to Obama's overspending and regulatory zeal," the report states.
The average American worked 103 days this year to pay for the cost of federal spending, and 44 days to pay off state and local government spending.
In addition, Americans worked 77 days to pay for total federal, state, and local regulations.
The report also measures varying government burdens in each state to determine its COGD. As in past years, taxpayers in Connecticut must work the most days to pay for government spending and regulation, 253, and the COGD there is Sept. 10. In New Jersey, taxpayers must work 249 days, and in New York, 242 days.
Taxpayers in Mississippi labored "only" until July 19 to pay off their burden of government, a total of 200 days, while taxpayers in Tennessee worked 201 days, and in South Carolina, 204 days.
This year's overall COGD "comes only two days earlier than last year's revised date of Aug. 14," according to a statement from Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist and Mattie Corrao, executive director of the Center for Fiscal Accountability.
"This small step towards an earlier Cost of Government Day is likely temporary. The coming implementation of regulatory behemoths that will also cause federal spending to skyrocket augurs a dismal future for taxpayers.
"The implementation of the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory overhaul, coupled with adjudication of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, portend far later COGDs in the future."
However, on a more hopeful note, the authors add: "The discussion of the government's overspending problem has shifted from billions to trillions — a significant step toward coming to terms with the country's fiscal recklessness."