August 17 marks the annual Cost of Government Day for Washington state. This means that Washington citizens work for nearly eight months to pay for their government to operate and regulate. That is almost a full month’s work more than last year’s Cost of Government Day – July 22!

The Cost of Government Day issue goes hand-in-hand with the health care debate. It already costs Americans eight months of labor to pay for existing government. How much longer will we have to work for government-run health care as well.

Elected officials need to be aware of how much they are costing (or proposing to spend) of taxpayers’ money with new legislation.

John F. Derrig, Bellevue