The Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) announced that this year, over half the year's income from average citizens is dedicated to paying government taxes.
However, as of July 16, anything you have left is yours... see www.CAGW.org for more.
CAGW Observes Cost of Government Day, 2008
CAGW observed Cost of Government Day on July 16 by expressing outrage at the federal, state, and local governments’ continued waste of hundreds of billions of tax dollars on outdated, ineffective, duplicative, and non-essential programs and agencies. Cost of Government Day is the date on which the average American worker has earned enough to pay off his or her share of the tax and regulatory burdens imposed by all levels of government, according to the Americans for Tax Reform Foundation. “Today taxpayers have been released from state servitude and can begin to provide for themselves and their families,” CAGW President Tom Schatz announced. Americans now work more than half of the year - 197 days - to pay their share of the cost of government, with 84 of those days due to federal spending alone. This year, the average American needed to work an additional 16 days to pay off his or her cost of government compared to 2000 and four days more than last year. Read more about Cost of Government Day, 2008.
vj