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One of the least imaginative, but always popular, stories for an editor to assign in years past was the annual tax day frenzy at the local post office.

Younger Two-Way readers may not know this, but before e-filing was the thing to do, many procrastinators would wait until the last possible moment to finish their federal tax returns. And many post offices would keep staff on hand until midnight so that those returns could be postmarked before April 15 turned into April 16.

Now?

"Post offices no longer stay open late on tax day," is one of this morning's typical headlines. As Michigan's Macomb Daily writes:

"Local post offices used to take on a circus-like atmosphere on April 15 when many people would file their taxes up until a midnight deadline amid tax protestors and consultants on hand, often with some dressed up as Uncle Sam.

"But those days are gone.

"Since so many taxpayers now file electronically, most post offices no longer stay open late on tax day.

" 'We really stopped extending hours at our postal locations because there really isn't a need to any more,' said Elizabeth Najduch, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Postal Service's metropolitan Detroit region."

Proposals to let U.S. taxpayers get a statement from the government that's already filled in with their financial information have been under attack by Intuit, the maker of TurboTax, according to ProPublica. The non-profit newsroom says several people took a stand against the proposal in a "grass-roots" campaign Intuit orchestrated.

The proposed "return-free" system would use information the federal government receives from banks and employers to simplify the filing process. It's used in parts of Europe, and in a California pilot program. Its critics warn that such a system might ignore tax credits and incorporate errors. And tax preparation companies such as Intuit say it would hurt their business.

The ProPublica article is by Liz Day, who also wrote about the campaign against return-free filing last year. She says she looked into the campaign after noticing "remarkably similar language" being used to weigh in on a "remarkably obscure topic."

In a Morning Edition interview last year, Day gave some context about the proposed system:

"President Ronald Reagan supported it and talked favorably about it in 1985. And President Obama has spoken also favorably about it on the campaign trail in 2007. The idea is that you would get a pre-filled return from the government, using the information they already have, to send a pre-filled return to you that you could either accept or throw away. It's completely voluntary."

At Passover celebrations around the world tonight, the youngest child will sing a song in Hebrew. "Why," they'll ask, "is this night different from all other nights?"

Adults in Ukraine can ask a similar question this year: What makes this Passover different from all others? It's a question Rabbi Alexander Duchovny has been thinking about a lot. "Passover is z'man cheruteinu, time of our liberty — time of freedom," he says. "And especially for Ukrainian Jewry, and for Ukrainians, this is a time of liberty."

Duchovny is a progressive rabbi, and like many Jews in Kiev, he joined thousands of protesters in Independence Square this winter, demanding a change in government.

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Why is this Sandwich Monday different from all other Sandwich Mondays? In honor of Passover, I introduced my non-Jewish colleagues to the wonders of the Passover lunch.

It's not the Seder meal, but what I might have brought to school lunch back in the 1970s, when the affluent Jews of suburban New Jersey ate tasteless food to remind themselves that thousands of years ago, they didn't have nice professional jobs like being an lawyer, or maybe a CPA. That's a steady living. I know David Birnbaum does nicely as an accountant, maybe you could look into that?

So what's the sandwich? Manischewitz gefilte fish on Manischewitz matzo with beet horseradish, and Manischewitz potato chips on the side. I took mercy on the goyim by using egg matzo and the non-jellied kind of gefilte fish.

PETER: Eat, everybody. Seth, have some more, you look thin.

SETH: If I was the Red Sea, and Moses tried to get me to eat this, I would totally part.

PETER: Opening this jar of gefilte fish reminded me of my beloved grandmother, Rose Scholnick, opening a jar of gefilte fish.

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