Want To Know How Much The Government Costs?

Today is Cost of the Government day. Take every penny that every person in this country has made this year, add it up, and that is the cost of the government:

We stopped paying for government three months ago. Tax Freedom Day was April 23rd. That's when the average American effectively finished paying taxes to government at all levels. But only the average American. Anyone living in a high-tax state, such as Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York, had to work another couple weeks for government.

But taxes are a poor measure of the total cost of government. Because of sizable and persistent deficits, total public spending is a better standard of what we pay for government. Even that isn't enough, however. Regulation adds another substantial charge to the bill.

Americans for Tax Reform adds these together to come up with Cost of Government Day. That's when we really stop paying for government. Last year COGD was July 12. It advanced four days this year to July 16. Explains ATR: "In other words, the cost of government consumes 53.9 percent of national income."