US Congress Tax Rebate!!!

[rchurchward]

Pulled from http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/...lus/index.html

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- American taxpayers would get checks of several hundred dollars from the federal government under a plan to stimulate the economy announced by congressional and administration officials Thursday.

"Tens of millions Americans will have a check in the mail," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, said at a Capitol Hill news conference. "It is there to strengthen the middle class, to create jobs and to turn this economy around."

"I'm looking for quick action in the House. I hope that the Senate will follow quickly so that we can put this money in the hands of middle-income Americans as soon as possible," said Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, the House minority leader.

Sources on Capitol Hill and at the Treasury Department said the plan would send checks of $600 to individuals and $1,200 to couples who paid income tax and who filed jointly.

People who did not pay federal income taxes but who had earned income of more than $3,000 would get checks of $300 per individual or $600 per couple.

A Democratic aide and Republican aide said there will be an additional amount per child, which could be in the neighborhood of $300.

Those who earn UP TO $75,000 individually or up to $150,000 as a couple will be eligible for the payments, said Republican and Democratic sources familiar with the tentative deal.

Checks could be in taxpayers' mailboxes by June, according to an Associated Press report.

The agreement includes a robust package of business incentives and help for homeowners facing possible mortgage foreclosures.

The Treasury Department still must analyze the numbers to determine the price tag of the stimulus package, sources said.

To get to the agreement, Democrats dropped calls for increases in food stamps and an extension of unemployment compensation. Republicans agreed to allow people who pay Social Security taxes but not income taxes to get the checks, sources said.

An announcement on the plan could come Thursday afternoon, the two sources said.

Aides in both parties said Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has been working aggressively in recent days as he tries to make progress before House Republicans head out of Washington for a legislative retreat at the end of the week.

The stimulus package may face resistance from fiscal conservatives in both parties over worries that it would increase the federal debt. The talks are occurring as auditors report that the federal deficit -- the difference between what the government takes in and what it spends -- is increasing.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated Wednesday the deficit would jump to $250 billion, mainly because of a weakening economy. That estimate does not include any additional spending that would be part of a stimulus package.

The proposal is intended to address economic worries stemming from a worldwide credit crunch created by the mortgage crisis and plunging stock markets. The president proposed the package last week. Video Watch a debate on whether the U.S. is heading into a recession »
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Officials in both parties credited Paulson, the former Goldman Sachs executive known for a shrewd grasp of the markets, with pushing the package aggressively.

"He's been on the phone with practically every member of Congress -- some of them a few times," one Senate Republican aide said. "He's not fooling around."

So, what do you all think about this? Good idea or not? Do you think this will accomplish it's goal of "stimulating the economy" which is supposedly in recession? Obviously, any tax-paying American is thinking, SWEET! And every card collecting, tax-paying American is thinking, JACKPOT, time to bust some stuff!!

[stewart20rulz]

Free money (or should I say getting our money back) is always a good thing. Not sure if it's going to be enough to help the economy overall though. Until jobs that were sent over seas are back in the U.S. we may be on a never ending cycle. But I can't blame companies who have to answer to stock holders for going for cheap labor, but it hurts the U.S. overall in my opinion

[skippy]

Yeah but what sucks is when you have folks like myself on Workers Comp and don't pay taxes. We're stuck in the cold with jack piddly.

[rchurchward]

Yeah but what sucks is when you have folks like myself on Workers Comp and don't pay taxes. We're stuck in the cold with jack piddly.

Did you see this: People who did not pay federal income taxes but who had earned income of more than $3,000 would get checks of $300 per individual or $600 per couple.

[TheTGB]

Woohoo! Money I can save...oh wait it's supposed to be stimulating the economy?

Money I can use toward rent so I can save more! ...won't be stimulating anything but my savings account! :P

[scottkoz20]

Great, the money is already spent... child adoption is REALLY expensive!

[mikesilvia]

This is by far the worst idea I have ever seen and makes me lose faith in both Democrats and Republicans. It is not the job of the government to send money to its citizens it doesn't have. This means the government will borrow yet another $150 billion from China, Europe and other countries to send money to people that do not pay taxes. Am I missing something? No one will ever shoot Santa and yet again our government officials are buying votes. I have lost a lot of respect for President Bush on this one.

All I hear is Democrats and Republicans complaining about the National debt, yet we are going to go another $200+ billion in debt from this. Why? Because we must borrow this money and pay interest on it. This means we borrow $150 billion from foreign governments that charge us interest. So, over time this will turn into more than $200 billion in debt and keep rising.

How in the world does sending $300 to someone that doesn't pay tax going to fix an economy?

If we raised our kids like this we would be considered bad parents. If your daughter called up from college stating that she spent all her money and needs more money to eat out would you just send it to her no questions asked? Or would you tell he to stop wasting the money she is earning and make better decisions.

I've also heard how the government is going spend billions more on bailing our banks that made bad mortgage loans. So, these banks approve loans they should never have approved and we are now expected to bail them out with more money we don't have or raise taxes on people that already have high taxes.

I've completely lost faith in our government's ability to follow the Constitution as we are become a nanny state. If this is happening under Bush's watch I can't imagine what we are in for with Hillary or Obama. What you spend all your money on scratch tickets and cell phone bills? Well here take another $1,000 of money the government doesn't have.

There are better ways to fix the economy that just sending a couple hundred dollars to every American. It's called cutting government wasteful spending and cutting taxes.

[hoeser]

This is by far the worst idea I have ever seen and makes me lose faith in both Democrats and Republicans. It is not the job of the government to send money to its citizens it doesn't have. This means the government will borrow yet another $150 billion from China, Europe and other countries to send money to people that do not pay taxes. Am I missing something? No one will ever shoot Santa and yet again our government officials are buying votes. I have lost a lot of respect for President Bush on this one.

All I hear is Democrats and Republicans complaining about the National debt, yet we are going to go another $200+ billion in debt from this. Why? Because we must borrow this money and pay interest on it. This means we borrow $150 billion from foreign governments that charge us interest. So, over time this will turn into more than $200 billion in debt and keep rising.

How in the world does sending $300 to someone that doesn't pay tax going to fix an economy?

If we raised our kids like this we would be considered bad parents. If your daughter called up from college stating that she spent all her money and needs more money to eat out would you just send it to her no questions asked? Or would you tell he to stop wasting the money she is earning and make better decisions.

I've also heard how the government is going spend billions more on bailing our banks that made bad mortgage loans. So, these banks approve loans they should never have approved and we are now expected to bail them out with more money we don't have or raise taxes on people that already have high taxes.

I've completely lost faith in our government's ability to follow the Constitution as we are become a nanny state. If this is happening under Bush's watch I can't imagine what we are in for with Hillary or Obama. What you spend all your money on scratch tickets and cell phone bills? Well here take another $1,000 of money the government doesn't have.

There are better ways to fix the economy that just sending a couple hundred dollars to every American. It's called cutting government wasteful spending and cutting taxes.

I agree. We are creating a deficit that generations upon generations will be paying for. Perhaps more fiscal responsibility is in order instead of handing out "free" money.

[scottkoz20]

There are better ways to fix the economy that just sending a couple hundred dollars to every American. It's called cutting government wasteful spending and cutting taxes.

Mike,

Yes, the "extra" money is nice (as I mentioned in my post above), BUT I agree with everything you said! My question to someone that is smarter in economics than me. How does this help anyone in the long term? Most of this is a short term fix at best.

We are going to pay for this somewhere down the road.

[nate92]

We are already paying for it with a weak dollar, high gas prices, housing that won't sell and the worst may be yet to come. I'm afraid things will be rough for a while. This will not help long term which is the problem. I this wasn't an election year they would not do this but anything to stay in power. JMHO