Consumers Lean On Rebate Checks For 'Bills and Gas' : NY Times

Consumers Lean On Rebate Checks For 'Bills and Gas' : NY Times

www.nytimes.com

MIAMI — The federal government is showering households with tax rebates to spur spending and invigorate a troubled economy. But many Americans are so consumed with debt and the soaring price of gasoline that they are opting to save the money or use it to pay bills, according to surveys, sales data and interviews with people from Florida to California.

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Big suprise here...A measely few hundred dollars, although nice, certainly is not something most can afford to go out and blow right now, when we're all having trouble affording to drive back and forth to work (if we're lucky enough to still HAVE a job) and keep food on the table.

So much for all of our gov's hot-air rhetoric on how this was going to "jump-start the economy"...

Recent surveys underscore that many households are now too worried about the rising cost of driving and eating to spend freely, even as cash lands in their laps.

A February survey by the National Retail Federation extrapolated that about 12 million rebate recipients planned to use some of the money to buy gasoline. By May, the number had grown to 17.2 million — a jump of more than 40 percent.

Another survey by the International Council of Shopping Centers found that those planning to use rebate checks to largely pay down debt jumped to 51 percent of respondents in mid-May from 46 percent in February.

At retail outlets across the country, many merchants say they have yet to enjoy a bump up in business from the tax rebates.

www.nytimes.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Won't this be like the saying
"To little to late." Although they have the right idea, more needs to be done. Jobs being lost, families losing homes, mothers and fathers unable to feed themselves and if they have the means to the money goes toward the kids if they have any. Sometimes I wonder, where there is a reset button...