Last week was tax day. April 15. The day we send a large portion of the rewards of our labor to the federal government.

It should be called Fund the Federal Government Day.

Look at your total federal taxes paid last year, including Income, FICA and Medicare taxes. Note this does not include hidden taxes such as tariffs that are passed on in consumer prices. That amount might be the good news because 2026 federal spending is running 25 percent higher than federal income. So Congress has committed for you to pay an additional 25 percent they are spending on a credit card in your name.

The first U.S. tax code, enacted in 1913, was 400 pages. The federal income tax rate for 99 percent of Americans in 1914 was one percent.

In 2010, an effort was launched to rein in federal spending and federal growth. It was called the T.E.A. party. Taxed Enough Already. Events across America had thousands of handmade signs protesting the federal government’s growth. The signs and the spirit of the cause were often mimicking the Boston Tea Party of 1773 that led to the American Revolution. Since 2010 the federal budget has grown from 3.5 trillion dollars to 7.4 trillion in 2026. Nothing changed.

In November 2024, Elon Musk was appointed to lead the “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE). The initiative aimed to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies. Very little of their recommendations were adopted. Government and Government spending continued to grow.

Are you better off now, than in 2010? Or even 2024? Has more government made your life better or worse?

Every tax has an opportunity cost. If you could keep just half of what you pay in federal taxes, think of what you could do with that amount of money.

Instead of funding $14 million to make monkeys play a “Price Is Right” inspired video game, you could take your best friend to dinner and a movie.

Instead of funding $3 trillion on unwinnable wars in Afghanistan and Ukraine, you could buy a new car. Now you are funding Israel’s war with Iran.

Instead of funding $7.5 billion for electric vehicle charger stations nationwide, you could buy a new set of furniture for your house. After $7.5 billion and years of this program, only 68 EV charging stations are up and running.

Instead of spending $1.5 million on a project called ÚNETE, an “innovative multilevel strategy” that claims it can reduce drug use in “Latinx” communities through — wait for it — celebrity influencer campaigns and friend groups, you could take your family to Branson for your own entertainment.

Our U.S. national debt is now $39 trillion: $289,204 per household.

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul said “Year after year, Washington continues to waste taxpayer dollars, adding $1.2 trillion in interest payments alone to the national debt.”

Ninty percent of what the U.S. federal government does would cost far less if left to private business or local and state governments.

Federal Taxes are perhaps the worst investment you make with your income. However, if you are considering not paying your taxes, then you will learn that the IRS is exempt from the rule of law and does not follow your constitutionally protected rights.

It’s interesting to note that tax day and the November elections are 6 months apart. The political class hopes that on election day you won’t remember how painful tax day was.