Today = Tax Freedom Day
Hard to believe that since New Year's Day, we've been working just for the government. According to the Tax Foundation:
“Most people have heard of Tax Freedom Day by now. For those who haven't, Tax Freedom Day is the day on which Americans have earned enough money to pay all their federal, state and local taxes for the year. On Tax Freedom Day, we have earned enough to pay the government and we can finally start keeping our paychecks for ourselves and our families. It's a great way to illustrate how much the nation as a whole pays in taxes. We also calculate a Tax Freedom Day for each state.
“In 2008, Tax Freedom Day falls on April 23, which means Americans must work from January 1 until April 23—nearly a third of the year—just to pay taxes. That's more than we spend on food, clothing and housing combined.”
The Tax Foundation’s report is here, and you can listen to their You Tube video here.
Imagine that! Working 114 days of the year (30.8%) just “for the government.” Sure makes you wonder about the value of government, not to mention what it is that government does.