Don’t forget (and I’m sure you haven’t…) that today is Tax Day! To celebrate this infamous date, I wanted to relay one of Phyllis Schlafly’s writings on the subject, so sit back and enjoy!
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Congressman Roscoe Bartlett had a wonderful idea that might actually help to ease the pain [of Tax Day]. He once introduced a bill in Congress to change Income Tax filing day from April 15 to the first Monday in November – the day before Election Day. Congressman Bartlett thought it was just common sense that the price we pay for government – which is taxes - should be uppermost on our minds when we go to the polls to elect our Representatives in Congress. April is just too far away from November.
Income Tax Day is usually the day when we notice the difference between our salaries and our take-home pay, and that would be a very significant fact for each of us to reflect on when we are standing in line to vote in November. Americans might make different choices if they had the price of government on their minds when they cast their ballots.
When Americans elect Members of Congress in November, we are essentially buying the services we will receive from our government.
There’s a seven-month disconnect between the purchase date and the date when we pay the bill. It’s like buying government services on a credit card and not seeing the bill until so much later that we may have forgotten what we bought. Many Americans believe that government spending is out of control today, and it’s not all due to foreign wars. The federal government is putting far more into public schools and healthcare than ever in history.
Americans should pay our taxes to the government in the same week that we decide who we elect to spend our tax dollars. That’s what Congressman Roscoe Bartlett thought, and Phyllis Schlafly agreed. That way, we will have a better idea of whether we want to control our pocketbook ourselves — or if we’re content to let the politicians control it.
This post originally appeared at https://www.phyllisschlafly.com/liberalism-and-conservatism/big-government/lets-move-income-tax-day/