Bush has signed his stimulus plan. This plan offers $300 – $600 for individuals with income between $3,000 – $75,000. Couple with income under $150,000 will receive a refund of $1,200. Families with kids will receive an additional $300 / child (as of the end of the 2007 tax year).
The IRS will send out rebates — by mail or by direct deposit into your bank account — through the late spring and the summer. The rebates come in addition to any regular tax refund.
To pay for the rebates — which are estimated to cost about $117 billion over the next two years — the government will have to borrow more money, enlarging the budget deficit.
While I am happy to receive an additional amount of money, I am not sure that borrowing more money is the right approach. It seems an awful lot like we are taking from Peter to pay Paul. In the end the markers that these foreign banks have on U.S. assets will put us in a bad position. I think the shot of adrenaline that they are expecting this to provide will be short lived. The reports i have read state that they expect that only 20 – 40 percent of the rebates will be spent.
What do you think of the rebates?
Incredibly Dumb
We’re a nation of spenders that can’t save. So to fuel that we borrow more money to give to individuals who are expected to continue spending?
How about this for an economics stimulus package – leave Iraq and find a cure for cancer.
Personally, I don’t think
Personally, I don’t think the extra 600 per person is going to boost the economy in its current condition. In order for it to have any effect, people would have to take that $600 and immediately spend it on goods and services. But a recent poll from the Washington Post indicates that most people are planning on either a)putting it into savings, or b) paying down their debt.
Can it be that Americans are starting to become more fiscally responsible than their leaders?
was it Jon Stewart who said…
Hey we screwed up the economy for future generations.. so here.. go to ikea and get yourself a nice lamp.
Visit the Official Justin Timpane Website Music, Acting, and More! http://www.timpane.com
Keep my rebate
My initial thought was to find out if there’s a way to tell the government to keep my rebate. Then I realized that little protest would do basically no good, and leave me without the money.
What would do some good is to get a new president in office who will take the correct actions to stimulate our economy and work toward eliminating budget and trade deficits. Unfortunately, I don’t know that any of the currently running candidates have the political will or connections to bring about such change. Obama’s a Jimmy Carter-like outsider, Clinton might be able to do something but is so entangled (read: corrupted) with lobbyists and special interests that any proposal from her will likely carry massive strings to her benefactors, and McCain has declared he’s going to continue the same ineffectual policies as his predecessor.
I’m a little discouraged.
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Matthew P. Barnson
Peter here
This is my open invitation–i’m accepting thank you notes from anyone who gets a rebate check, especially if they didn’t pay taxes themselves.
Stupid idea.