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What's 120 days? It's how long the average American will slave for the government in 2007.
I just heard about Tax Freedom day: the day that marks the point at which the average American has worked off their allocated "share" of the Federal and State tax burden. This year, that date is April 30, 2007. Therefore, on average, U.S. citizens have to work 120 days, roughly 33% of a year, to pay off the government thugs.
Follow up:
From the article, I found this graph particularly informative:
If that graph isn't enough to frustrate you senseless, how about this narrative:
The report compares the number of days Americans work to pay taxes to the number of days they work to support themselves.
"Americans will work longer to pay for government (120 days) than they will for food, clothing and housing combined (105 days)," said Hodge. "Since 1986 taxes have cost more than these basic necessities. In fact, Americans will work longer to afford federal taxes alone (79 days) than they will to afford housing (62 days)."
In 2007 Americans will work another 41 days to afford their state and local taxes. That makes taxation a bigger financial burden than housing and household operation (62 days), health and medical care (52 days), food (30 days), transportation (30 days), recreation (22 days), or clothing and accessories (13 days).
I imagine many have wondered how much they work to pay for various expenses. I often reflect on how absurd it is that I pay significantly more in taxes than I do to keep a nice roof over my head and a car to drive. Seeing this data only makes those ideas tangible.
That the amount of taxes we pay individually or on average is at all reasonable given the governmental "services" we receive is ludicrous. If you think otherwise, ask yourself what services you receive from the government that could possibly be worth paying more for than the costs of food and shelter - or healthcare.
Would you say roads? Police protection? Military protection? Courts? I don't have any detailed evidence to support my conclusion other than my financial sense and gut intuition, but I'll say it: no way all of these "services" combined would even come close to amounting to one-third of the income an American generates in a year. That taxation is necessary to pay for "shared governmental services" is a ruse: do not believe it!
So here's to remembering tax freedom day - April 30, 2007 - and hoping for a day when we have tax freedom every day of the year.