FreedomWorks Marks ‘Cost of Government Day’

Today, FreedomWorks joined with other organizations in marking the annual ‘Cost of Government Day’, which falls on Wednesday.

Kent Lassman, FreedomWorks Vice President for Strategy, spoke at the press conference hosted by Americans For Tax Reform, as did representatives from the Heritage Foundation, the National Taxpayers Union, Competitive Enterprise Institute, and Citizens Against Government Waste, among others. Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Phil English also spoke at the event.

‘Cost of Government Day’ is the calendar day upon which each American has earned enough cumulative gross income to pay his or her share of government spending, beginning on January 1st. By commemorating how long the average American works to pay off the government, ‘Cost of Government Day’ illustrates how wasteful the federal government has been during the past year.

FreedomWorks’ Lassman commented:

“While we pay our taxes on April 15th, it is not until July 11th that we finally work off our share of government spending. With Republicans showing a commitment to fiscal conservatism, and Democrats promising massive new spending programs, the size of government may very well be the most important domestic issue debated on Capitol Hill between now and the 2008 election.

A budget is a plan of priorities. Fiscal discipline is not a partisan characteristic, it is a leadership trait. As we reflect on the cost of government – the regulatory and paperwork burdens, the federal, state and local tax obligations – we can either acquiesce in shame to irresponsible, nakedly political behavior or we can bring clarity and focus to the overwhelming fiscal challenges of our nation. There is the path of politics – where Jim Nussle’s nomination to lead OMB is held hostage for more spending – and there is the road to freedom. We choose the latter. We choose responsibility and limits on both the means and the ends of government.”