They’ll talk about ‘junk fees’ but never the financial burden of a massive, bureaucratic government

 by Jack Hellner

A new study by “progressive” think tank Groundwork Collaborative shows that junk fees and annoyance costs add up to $166 billion per year; here’s a rough breakdown, from USA Today:

Here’s how much the ‘annoyance economy’ costs consumers

Junk fees: $90 billion a year

Phone scams: $25.4 billion

Calls with health insurance administrators: $21.6 billion

Waiting for medical services: $19.4 billion

 

Robocalls: $8 billion

Waiting for government services: $1.6 billion

 

I get ticked off at this stuff too, but this is a junk report.

Some of these things are just made up numbers, such as calls with health insurance administrators, waiting for medical services, robocalls, and waiting for government services. How the heck would you quantify that cost?

You will never see a leftist think tank calculate the full cost of government, and how it affects consumers, because these people love big government.

Where is the study showing how much government regulations, taxes, and fees cost consumers each year?

The best estimate of federal regulations shows 185,000 to 190,000 pages.

Obamacare has between 10,000 and 20,000 pages of regulations. What is the cost of compliance and administration for it?

The federal tax code has between 2,500 and 4,000 pages, with over 70,000 pages of legal interpretation. How much does that compliance cost? How much do individuals and companies have to pay to file their returns?

According to this article, there are 97 federal taxes. Here are just twenty of them:

Air Transportation Taxes

Biodiesel Fuel Taxes

Building Permit Taxes

Business Registration Fees

Capital Gains Taxes

Cigarette Taxes

Court Fines

Disposal Fees

Dog License Taxes

Drivers License Fees

Employer Health Insurance Mandate Tax

Employer Medicare Taxes

Employer Social Security Taxes

Environmental Fees

Estate Taxes

Excise Taxes On Comprehensive Health Insurance Plans

Federal Corporate Taxes

Federal Income Taxes

Federal Unemployment Taxes

Fishing License Taxes

None of the above addresses state or city regulations, taxes and fees.

Illinois has raised 70 taxes and fees since 2011, a move which has cost over $100 billion.

It is pathetic and absolutely dishonest for the media to repeat the Democrat talking points that Democrats are the party to address affordability. They did not use the word when they were campaigning for Biden and then Harris in 2024. They pretended that the high inflation during the Biden years was not the fault of their policies. They falsely claim that the high prices today are Trump’s fault instead of acknowledging it’s residual from the Biden years.

Trump works constantly to reduce taxes and regulations, which does increase affordability and productivity. Inflation stayed low throughout his first term which increased real wages, especially for those in lower and middle income categories as the media and other Democrats opposed him every day. Inflation and energy prices also stayed low during 2020 despite COVID. Trump handed Biden a rapidly growing economy and inflation below 2%, despite what the public has been told.

I wish people would stop using the term progressive to describe radical Democrat policies. They would move the country backwards towards socialism or worse.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/03/they_ll_talk_about_junk_fees_but_never_address_the_financial_burden_of_a_massive_bureaucratic_government.html