Thursday, April 15, 2004

Happy Tax Day!

Happy Tax Day folks! I expect at least a 50% drop in my readership today due to Tax Day, so I will try to remain pithy and light for the next few hours before I head off to work.

Unlike many of you, I already finished my taxes a month ago and got my tax return (which I used to finance this blog). Because I like money, I always do my taxes the first week or two of Feb. Plus I am already stressed enough as it is and I don't like deadlines. So today instead of Alka-Seltzer and Peptol, I'll be chowing down on Taco Bell and Comedy Central.

Now as we all know this year's Tax Freedom Day was the earliest it's been in years. And we are seeing the positive effects of having more money in people's pockets with increases in consumer spending. This phenomenon should last another couple of months as people continue to get their income tax returns back.

This increase in consumer spending, if coupled with job creation, would be a political boon to the Bush administration. However, if there is too much spending or too much job growth, we might see a rise in interest rates down the line before the election, which would be a political benefit for the Kerry campaign.

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