Happy Tax Freedom Day!

Michele Bachmann | April 09, 2010 9:54 AM

It's finally here. April 9, 2010 marks Tax Freedom Day, or the day on which Americans have earned enough money to pay all federal, state, and local taxes for the year.

According to the Tax Foundation, who calculates this figure each year:

"Americans will work well over three months of the year—from January 1 to April 9—before they have earned enough money to pay the nation's tax bill for the year."

"This date is one day later than last year's Tax Freedom Day but more than two weeks earlier than 2007's date. However, the earlier date is not necessarily cause for celebration. That's because Tax Freedom Day does not count the deficit even though deficits must eventually be financed. Since 1948, when Tax Freedom Day was first calculated, the difference between what governments are spending and what they're collecting has never been as great as during 2009 and 2010.

"If Americans were required to pay for all government spending this year, including the $1.3 trillion federal budget deficit, they would be working until May 17 before they had earned enough to pay their taxes—an additional 38 days of work."

At the end of the day, this is the price we're paying for our government. The question is, are we getting our money's worth?