Paying for Government Now Takes a Record 224 Days

Bob Beauprez

Americans for Tax Reform publishes s a "Cost of Government Day" report every year, which calculates how long the average American must work to pay for the full costs of government spending and regulation. The 2011 version just came out and it isn't encouraging. Here's the bad news:

The 2011 Cost of Government Day fell on August 12 – last Friday – meaning Americans labored a full 224 days into the year to pay for local, state and federal government spending and regulations.

Americans have lost 29 days of the of the calendar year thanks to Obama's overspending and regulatory zeal – this is the third straight year Cost of Government Day has fallen in August. July 21 was the previous latest day ever.

Federal Spending takes 103 days to pay for, state and local government adds another 44 days, and total federal regulations – the explosive impact of which is just beginning to be felt from the current administration's agenda – adds another 77 days.

Of special interest going forward is the cost of the regulation agenda pursued by Obama.

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