I’m not quite sure how I feel about this piece of legislation introduced last week by Congressman Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD), a member of my state’s Congressional delegation. Bartlett wants to move Income Tax Day from its current April 15 to the first Monday in November — the day before Election Day. As Bartlett says:
On the one hand, I’m always tempted to ridicule such symbolic gestures: the “freedom fries” flap comes to mind. In addition, I fear that the elections would be solely focused on economic issues, rather than the broad slate of issues we should be discussing.
On the other hand, there is a kernel of practicality to this proposal. I wonder how this proposal would affect Congressman Bartlett’s party. With an economy showing signs of weakening in the autumn of 2000, would the Bush/Gore issues have been the same? How about the outcome? With the economy a mess, unemployment up and corporate scandals raging, how would the electorate have reacted in the midterm elections of 2002?
