Group marks Tax Freedom Day

The Tax Foundation, a group which generally favors lower tax rates, reported that Tax Freedom Day 2011 arrived a bit later than it did in 2010, but still two weeks almost before it did in 2007. It chalks that up to the reduction in tax collection caused by the stagnant economy; the extension of the Bush tax cuts; and the reduction of the payroll tax, which was also part of the tax-cut compromise enacted late last year. 

As it has in past years, the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities chided the Tax Foundation’s proclamation, essentially saying Tax Freedom Day exaggerates what middle-class households pay in taxes. (The Tax Foundation has responded to that charge in recent years.)

The group did also say that Tax Freedom Day would have to be pushed back well over a month – to May 23 – if it added up all the tax collection needed to pay off America’s deficit for this year as well. 

The office of at least one Republican lawmaker – Rep. John Culberson of Texas – also marked the occasion by reminding President Obama, in advance of his Wednesday speech, that the GOP believes that Washington has more of a spending problem than a revenue one.