Most of you have probably heard of Tax Freedom Day, the day that represents how long Americans must work before they have earned enough money to pay all federal, state, and local taxes for the year. According to the Tax Foundation, North Carolina’s Tax Freedom Day for 2011 was April 6.
Alas, April 6 has come and gone, but we have come across another monumental day, Cost of Government Day. Today, Aug. 12 is the national average Cost of Government Day, 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 the spending and regulatory burden imposed by government at the federal, state, and local levels.”
North Carolina’s Cost of Government Day was Aug. 4, meaning that North Carolinians worked 216 days this year to meet all of the government’s cost. In total, the American for Tax Reform Foundation reports that the cost of government consumes 61.42 percent of national income.
Not only are these numbers alarming; since 2008, the Cost of Government Day has moved from mid July to mid-August.
If these numbers aren’t enough to indicate how grossly expansive our government’s spending has been, then maybe this number will convince you: a federal debt of $14 trillion.
