They used to call it "tax freedom day." If the government took one twelfth of your pay, it was said that you worked for the government until February 1, at which point you started working for yourself.
Of course, our government's a little bigger than that, and in recent years tax freedom day has been said to occur in late April.
Now, remembering that we have a $14 Trillion economy, read this:
The U.S. government and the Federal Reserve have spent, lent or committed $12.8 trillion, an amount that approaches the value of everything produced in the country last year, to stem the longest recession since the 1930s.
New pledges from the Fed, the Treasury Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. include $1 trillion for the Public-Private Investment Program, designed to help investors buy distressed loans and other assets from U.S. banks. The money works out to $42,105 for every man, woman and child in the U.S. and 14 times the $899.8 billion of currency in circulation. The nation’s gross domestic product was $14.2 trillion in 2008.
Of course, when you think of a $3 Trillion federal budget against a $14T GDP, you can see how the April approximation works. Apply that logic to our current spending levels, and we're basically working for the government this year. (I think they're giving us Christmas off, but maybe you should check back with me on that before making any plans.)
The good news is that if we all hunker down, you can still pay it all off this year.
But the bad news is that everything you consume this year -- your food, your transportation, shelter, your healthcare and clothing; and everything you provide for your kids -- that's all coming out of next year's pay.
So you might want to start eating Cup-O-Noodles for lunch now if you're hoping to have any kind of 2010.
(Hat tip to Drudge again.)
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