It's Cost of Government Day 2011! Congrats, you've official earned enough gross income this year to pay your share of government spending

Natalie Gonnella
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It's been a rough week for the US economy, and what better way to cap it off than recognizing that the average American would have to work 224 days this year to meet the full cost of government spending and regulation for the current fiscal year - Happy Cost of Government Day!

Each year, the Americans for Tax Reform Foundation and the Center for Fiscal Accountability calculate 'Cost of Government Day' - aka the official day on which the average taxpayer has earned enough gross income to pay off his/her share of the fiscal burdens imposed by federal, state and local governments. 

In an unprecedented (yet unsurprising) leap, since President Obama took office, Americans now must toil 27 days longer than they did in 2008 to cover the government's soaring spending bill (nearly 62% of national income).

Overall, according to the report summary from the AfTRF:

• Americans have lost 29 days of the calendar year thanks to Obama’s overspending and regulatory zeal. 2011 marks the third straight year COGD has fallen in August. Prior to the Obama Administration, COGD had never fallen later than July 21.
•  The effects of the bailouts and failed “stimulus” plan are still being felt by Americans, who must work a full 103 days to pay for the costs of federal spending.
• Americans spend 44 days working to pay off state and local government spending.
• Americans are forced to labor 77 days to pay for total federal regulations, a workload that will increase exponentially with the implementation of the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory bill and Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, known more popularly as Obamacare.
• The report also measures varying government burdens in each state to calculate their respective state Cost of Government Day. As in past years, taxpayers in Connecticut must work the latest to celebrate their COGD, laboring all the way until September 10 to pay off the full costs of government. Taxpayers in Mississippi worked the shortest amount of time to pay off their burden off government, laboring until July 19.

For more facts on CoD, the summary and full report from the Americans for Tax Reform Foundation and the Center for Fiscal Accountability are available to view here and here.