By: Chairman Matt Pinnell

It wasn't widely reported, but yesterday was the "Cost of Government Day" in the U.S. Doesn't exactly roll off your tongue, but it's an important day, as it gives us an idea of how much the government actually costs us.

Every year, the Americans for Tax Reform Foundation, headed by activist Grover G. Norquist, publishes a "Cost of Government Day" analysis that determines until what date during the calendar year the average American must work to pay for the full costs of government spending and regulation.

"This year, Cost of Government Day falls on July 15, meaning Americans labor a full 197 days into the year to pay for local, state and federal government spending and regulations," said Norquist yesterday. "This year marks the fourth straight year COGD has fallen in July. Prior to the Obama Administration, COGD had never fallen later than June 26."

The largest driver of these costs is, of course, the government’s appetite for spending. "This year, Americans must work a full 88 days to pay for the costs of federal spending. This is in addition to the 40 days spent working to pay for state and local spending," says Norquist. "Proving once again that former President Ronald Reagan was right when he said, 'Government is too big and it spends too much.'"

Federal spending has ballooned under Obama; more than 5 trillion dollars and counting. That's more debt than any President has racked up before him...combined.

Regulatory costs are the other major cost driver. According to the report, taxpayers are forced to labor 69 days to pay for federal and state regulations, a workload that will increase exponentially as regulatory agencies continue to grow. Oh, and they are growing under Barack! He proposed 408 new regulations in his first two years in office alone that had an economic impact of over 100 million dollars.

Don't waste your time on a belated cake or card to commemorate the day. Just do this for me: forward this message to ten people today to let them know they are spending more than half of their year paying for government. It will surely give them a case of the Mondays, but at least they will know what's at stake this November.

Tags: Cost of Government Day, Matt Pinnell

About the Author: OKGOP