Yes Feminists, there is an oppressive man! And his name is Uncle Sam.
It’s April 12, and most of the buzz about today’s significance is that it is “Equal Pay Day.” Feminists everywhere are outraged that American women are only paid 77 cents on the dollar compared to what men make. For an explanation of how bad this logic is, check out Carrie Lukas’s piece in today’s Wall Street Journal.
American women are not oppressed by systematic workplace discrimination. But Americans of both genders are facing a different kind of paycheck oppression, and yes, from Uncle Sam.
According to the Tax Foundation, today is also “Tax Freedom Day.”
Taxpayers, on average, would have to work from January 1, 2011 to April 12, 2011 just to pay off their tax burden for the year. The rest of this year’s earnings, from today onward, we can keep. But we start out today with $0.
…But in reality, we are all still in the negative. Why? Because of the national deficit. The Tax Foundation explains:
Tax Freedom Day, like almost all tax burden measures, ignores the current year’s deficit. Only taxes that will actually be collected during 2011 count in the tally. In many years the deficit is fairly small as a percentage of total government spending, so Tax Freedom Day gives a good idea of the size of government. Since 2008, however, deficits have been massive by any measure, and as a result, Tax Freedom Day may give the impression that the burden of government is smaller than it is. If the federal government were planning to collect enough in taxes during 2011 to finance all of its spending, it would have to collect about $1.48 trillion more, and Tax Freedom Day would arrive on May 23 instead of April 12-adding an additional 41 days to the nation’s work for government.
So, there’s not much to celebrate on today’s “Tax Freedom Day,” is there? American women – and men – should stand up today and demand paycheck fairness. And by demanding paycheck fairness, I mean we should demand a government that respects the taxpayer’s dollar, avoids reckless deficit spending, and allows us to keep as much of our earnings as possible.