Cost of government day (Rep. Paul C. Broun)

Today marks the first day of the year that the average American is not working for the government.  According to Americans for Tax Reform, it took 231 days for the average American to “to pay off his or her share of the spending and regulatory burdens imposed by government on the federal, state, and local levels.”

Due to Washington’s out of control spending habits, the American people each year work more and more days just to pay their share of taxes. Two years ago, the Cost of Government Day fell on July 16, and in 2009, it occurred on August 11. Americans for Tax Reform explained, “One of the contributing factors to increased spending is the growth in government payrolls. The federal workforce totaled 4.4 million employees this year, while the addition of state and local workers brings the total government workforce to 24.315 million employees.”

While hard-working Americans are struggling to make ends meet in this ailing economy, Washington should be easing the financial burden on families by letting them keep more of their salaries through tax cuts. Instead, Washington continues to increase taxes and spending through programs such as the big-government stimulus. In order to ensure you don’t spend more days working to fund the government, I have introduced the JOBS Act, which would rescind any unspent dollars from the $1.1 trillion stimulus program and provide real tax cuts to individuals and small businesses. The Democrats’ tax and spend policies have failed to stimulate the economy. It’s past time to empower the American people by allowing them to keep more of their hard-earned money.