The New York Times reports that a tentative plan has been reached on the Economic Stimulus Plan that George W. Bush asked for. The plan calls for roughly $150 billion to pay stipends of $300 to $1,200 per household, and then an additional $300 per child for families with children. The plan also includes tax incentives for businesses to encourage spending (notice how the tax incentives are never spelled out). About that the rebates would go to 117 million households. About two-thirds of the total package would go toward the rebates, with the remaining one-third going toward business tax breaks.Here's the rub, at least $300 would be paid to all workers who earned at least $3,000 last year, even those who did not earn enough to pay taxes. Workers who paid income taxes will receive $300 to $600, and couples will receive up to $1,200 — plus $300 more for each child. Payments will go to individuals with adjusted gross incomes under $75,000 and couples with adjusted gross incomes under $150,000. The plan does not call for any "extraneous spending" like extending unemployment benefits (people who don't work, don't make money) or food stamps (what do you think most people will spend their $300 on?).
Read the entire New York Times article here.
plez sez: no one asked me... but this economic stimulus crap is a farce! what happens two weeks after these damn checks are spent? is $150 billion (around one percent) really going to jump start a $13 trillion economy? let's get real... by not addressing the root causes of the economic collapse (weak ass dollar, credit crunch, mortgage mess, loss of manufacturing jobs to overseas companies, loss of high tech jobs to overseas companies, trade imbalance, NAFTA, $100 a barrel oil, inflation, tax burden placed on the middle class, etc.).
and frankly, this stimulus package does NOTHING for plezWorld since i'm left out of helping to "stimulate" the economy because i make too much money! DAMN! never thought i'd be able to say that! i'm in the middle class and pay out the WAH-ZOO for federal taxes, yet, i don't qualify for this pissy tax rebate!
i guess i'll have to sit out this recovery... see more feedback about this post over at Booker Rising.
i'm in the middle class and pay out the WAH-ZOO for federal taxes, yet, i don't qualify for this pissy tax rebate!
ReplyDeleteMiddle Class? Nope in the eyes of politicians, you are RICH. Sorry you won’t get to jumpstart the economy, but no need to worry. If Obama gets elected and has his way, he’ll let you pay even more in SS and Medicare taxes. He is on the record as saying that the cap of $90K should be removed so now you can stimulate the gov’t economy by paying more taxes.
If I were to buy a big ticket item, I think most of the profit would go to some foreign company. But alas I will probably pay the taxes I owe. I think that is why the FEDs say that you will not see any checks until June. I think it would be cheaper to send a voucher allowing you to deduct that amount from your taxes. I think most people will pay bills, utilities and credit card debt.
ReplyDeleteI do agree .000012 percent isn't even a drop in the bucket.
All of this is just a short term fix. And truth be told, it has been happening over past 3 decades. Reagan and Clinton have just as much blame as the current administration. This is an interesting perspective on this(the midas touch)
ReplyDeleteWhen I heard they were talking about a "stimulus package", I assumed that it was yet another example of Bush using a disaster as an opportunity to like the pockets of his rich friends, who are probably among the businesses that will get a third (?) of the money doled out under this legislation.
ReplyDeleteI can't even begin to imagine what rich people will get under this plan, but I'll bet you it's a lot more than 300 dollars!