Our politicians truly are incompetent and have absolutely no idea what they are doing. I continue to state that we have a 2 class system here in the US. The "ruling" class (politicians and government employees), and "everyone else". So we are going to be $1.3 some trillion negative this year and the politicians are at a constipated standstill (as always) with no constructive steps being taken at all to deal with it. And we find during election years, the whole inept political system gets to take the year off to do nothing to deal with important issues.
In the middle of all of this comes "Emancipation Day"... Most people don't even know what that Holiday is. But if you are located within the Beltway you do. Because it is another special day off for the Washington elite. A day off that no politician will ever touch. Emancipation Day marks the anniversary of when Lincoln announced that slavery was illegal on April 16, 1862. So somehow that became a national day of celebration that really only applies to DC. But here's the thing, our brilliant politicians decided that whenever Emancipation Day landed on a Monday, that our tax filing deadline would be extended to Tuesday. Most people don't object to extending the deadline for filing since a 2 day effective delay gives taxpayers another 2 days to come up with the money or earn additional income on their investments prior to being withdrawn to pay taxes. And for those that don't pay taxes (the majority), it doesn't really make any difference. But here's the thing and it may be small, but it certainly is simple...why not modify Emancipation Day by not making it a "day off" for DC employees and at the same time require taxpayers to pay their taxes on Monday the 16th? After all, 99% of the country is working anyway on Emancipation day (were you off?) and that one day of collecting taxes will reduce our national debt by $3.5 billion (crude calculation based on daily interest cost of our debt).
Eliminating Emancipation day as a DC holiday would do more than saving $3.5 billion. It would send a signal to everyone that the Washington elite get it and that they can in fact figure out ways to save even a little bit of our money (that effect them directly for once). So let me ask all fellow tax payers...would you be willing to pay your taxes on the 16th instead of the 17th in order to save $3.5 billion while also eliminating a DC elite day off? I know I would be happy (happy may not be the right word) to pay on the 15th because by then I have already prepared my taxes and prepared the payment. I may not like the tax code but I do file on time. I really think a 2 day tax Holiday is one thing that most people would say is unnecessary in this debt climate.
This DC day off that no one knows about is one of those politically touchy issues that no politician will talk about. But here's the thing. Obama could! He could have led in this case by declaring that in this economic climate, we simply cannot afford to give DC politicians and federal employees another day off. Of course we will celebrate Emancipation day....but not as a paid DC day off. There are lots of other memorial days like that throughout the year. We could even celebrate it on the weekend similar to say Mothers day. But Obama of all Presidents (for obvious reasons), could lead this small but symbolic change and save $3.5 billion. Small yes.., simple yes. But stupid that it doesn't even get mentioned. Because the ruling elite are just that.
Politicians espouse the way things should be for everyone else while never having any impact on themselves. Here would be an opportunity to get in line with the rest of America!
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