Ronald Reagan: Federal Government Taxpayers
on Thursday, April 7, 2011Ronald Reagan Money Quotation saying We’ve heard that the average taxpayer works an average of 103 days of each year for the government (IRS) and the rest for themselves. Ronald Reagan said:
“The taxpayer: that’s someone who works for the federal government, but doesn’t have to take a civil service examination” — Ronald Reagan
In this quote, Ronald Reagan is satirically taking aim at the size and scope of the federal government bureaucracy. His interpretation is that many government employees, despite not having to pass a competitive civil service exam, are essentially “taxpayers” themselves since they rely on tax revenue to fund their jobs rather than directly providing goods or services.
Reagan appears to be suggesting that a large portion of government workers are indirectly subsidized by taxpayers but lack accountability or performance standards associated with a merit-based civil service. The overall message seems to be criticism of what Reagan viewed as an bloated government workforce more focused on self-perpetuation through taxation rather than on efficient service delivery and value for taxpayers.
Birthday: February 6, 1911 – Death: June 5, 2004