Want to know the true cost of government - calculating the cost for the average American - Dateline: Washington - Brief Article

Nation's Business, August, 1996

Want to know the true cost of government to the average American? According to Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), a national advocacy group based in Washington, the cost should be calculated this way: Add the compliance costs of federal, state, and local regulations to total federal, state, and local tax liabilities. That total, by the way, is estimated at $3.38 trillion. By July 3, according to the ATR's measure, the average American will have earned enough in gross income this year to pay his or her share of government's tab.

Of the 366 days in leap year 1996, says ATR, the employed will spend 184.6 days working to support spending programs and regulatory compliance as follows: state and local programs and regulations, 51.2 days; federal regulations, 40.3; Social Security and Medicare, 31.4; national defense, 15.5; other federal spending programs, 32.1; and interest on the national debt, 14.1.