Bush Stimulus Package - Was It A DEAL or DUD? SOUND OFF, page 1

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush said tax rebates will start going out Monday, earlier than previously announced, and should help Americans cope with rising gasoline and food prices, as well as aid a slumping economy.

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Okay.... up to $600 for a single person, up to $1,200.00 for a married person..... and an additional $300.00 for each dependent child.

QUESTION: Is this really going to do anything but be a very short term allowance? Considering it takes over $50.00 average to fill up a car, it won't take long to go through the money especially when you add in the rising cost of food, utilities and insurance.

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[edit on 8/31/2008 by Dave Rabbit]

I've sure heard nothing about a requirement to pay it back. I thought it was a "rebate", although it is also being sent to people who haven't been paying taxes as long as they file this year and qualify. I'm not sure how a person who hasn't paid gets a "rebate", but anyway...

I'll call it a deal. Maybe not sufficient in the face of the current economic conditions, but if I can get $1200 for the family, I'd rather have it than not. Maybe a lame deal, but still a deal.

Here's a link about the effect of the rebate - you don't have to pay taxes on the rebate, and it won't affect any refund you may be due next year:
usgovinfo.about.com...

Now is it a deal?

reply to post by zysin5

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the money you receive will not reduce have any impact on your 2008 taxes.

and my take on the rebate:


The last time we received one of these governmental gifts, everyone got them and the result was rather stimulating. The gov't is hoping the same will happen but they did a bad thing by limiting the recipients based on their income being below certain thresholds. What they've done is given money to people that will probably not put it back into the system. Many economists and financial experts think one of two things will happen. Either the money will be used to pay off credit card debt or it will go into the bank. Neither will help stimulate the economy as the gov't so desires. The truth is, the folks making over $75k ($150k for married filers) are more likely to have disposable income and, therefore, more likely to take the stimulus and spend it on something rather than pay off credit card debt or put it in the bank. Unfortunately, those income figures are the starting point for the phase out of the stimulus checks so the people most likely to spend that money are the same people the gov't is excluding from the recipient list.

When my clients bring up the rebate and ask how much they are entitled to, the majority of them, when told the amount, say "well, it will cover the interest on my credit card bill for a month" or some variation thereof. I have yet to hear one client say "I'm buying myself a (insert any product here)."

reply to post by Dave Rabbit

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In a multi trillion dollar economy, 110 billion dollars will make only a slight impact.

Assuming everyone wastes their free money..

And 110 billion dollars into the hands of people who didn't earn it well....

We call that inflation.

I give it a loud and resounding

DUD!

And here is why:
How will YOU spend your Tax Rebate?

Originally posted by Crakeur
reply to post by zysin5

---

the money you receive will not reduce have any impact on your 2008 taxes.

and my take on the rebate:


The last time we received one of these governmental gifts, everyone got them and the result was rather stimulating. The gov't is hoping the same will happen but they did a bad thing by limiting the recipients based on their income being below certain thresholds. What they've done is given money to people that will probably not put it back into the system. Many economists and financial experts think one of two things will happen. Either the money will be used to pay off credit card debt or it will go into the bank. Neither will help stimulate the economy as the gov't so desires. The truth is, the folks making over $75k ($150k for married filers) are more likely to have disposable income and, therefore, more likely to take the stimulus and spend it on something rather than pay off credit card debt or put it in the bank. Unfortunately, those income figures are the starting point for the phase out of the stimulus checks so the people most likely to spend that money are the same people the gov't is excluding from the recipient list.

When my clients bring up the rebate and ask how much they are entitled to, the majority of them, when told the amount, say "well, it will cover the interest on my credit card bill for a month" or some variation thereof. I have yet to hear one client say "I'm buying myself a (insert any product here)."

I have to disagree with you, I don't think that 'most' Americans are paying 1200 or even 600 dollars of interest on their credit cards each month. Some might, and those are people who certainly need to get their financial situation in order.

I believe 'most' Americans would fall into a lesser category of having some credit card or other debt and getting a sum of money like this will probably be used to pay something off or take a chunk out of it.

I am married and combined we don't make anywhere near the limit for receiving this rebate.. If I made 150,000 dollars a year, I would definitely feel rich, extremely rich for where I am now.

We might make a combined 60k a year, I have two houses (can't sell the other one, yay!) a car payment and some random debt. I'm not going to put this rebate back into the system, true, and some like me won't either, but there are many who will just throw it back into the system.

The thing is, no matter where it goes, (the theory is) it will help. Because if I pay off one of my high interest credit cards (my only one left), I no longer have that payment every month. That's going to be money in my pocket I didn't have before, that I can spend on needs or wants.

I can really only speak for my own personal situation and the general theory. I don't know what situation everyone is in. But at least for me, I got a little in over my head and I've been slowly fixing my finances, this sum of money will give me a jump on that and definitely help me have spendable income.

This is just a band-aid, though, and I don't believe it will fix the root causes of these problems, so they'll continue until a huge change in thinking on the economy occurs.