2008 Tax Rebates

[tabishis]

Millions of tax payers will be receiving some extra money this year. $600 will be paid to qualifying single taxpayers and $1200 to couples. $145 billion tax stimulus plan will not only benefit the qualifying taxpayers but will also give US economy a boost.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/24/e...index.html

Do you think that the tax stimulus package would help strengthen the US economy? How?

[Mike_115]

It will temporarily boost it I think. But it's treating the symptoms, not the disease. As for me, I think it's just going to pay off some debts, and I think it's the same for a lot of people. So it might not actually be much of a boost anyway.

[tabishis]

Mike_115 Wrote:It will temporarily boost it I think. But it's treating the symptoms, not the disease. As for me, I think it's just going to pay off some debts, and I think it's the same for a lot of people. So it might not actually be much of a boost anyway.

A temporary boost is not going to fix the problems for good. I just filled my my car yesterday for $3.79 a gallon. Ridiculous. It's not even EXTRA $600 that people will eb receiving. It's just a small portion of the taxes that we all pay.

[JonUK]

tabishis Wrote:A temporary boost is not going to fix the problems for good. I just filled my my car yesterday for $3.79 a gallon. Ridiculous. It's not even EXTRA $600 that people will eb receiving. It's just a small portion of the taxes that we all pay.

$3.79 per Gallon! Ridiculous? Cry me a river! here in the UK we are paying £1.08 per Litre - thats the equivalent of $9.76 a gallon.

May I suggest you buy a car that gets some decent Gas milage before the next Administration has to invade another country, or start drilling in your last untouched wilderness?

On behalf of every other country in the world - Thank you.

As for the original post - 600 dollars is a pittance compared to how much the richest 10% in the US got from Bush's tax cut over the last few years!

Hey Bush, the thing about rich people is - they're rich! they don't need tax cuts, they already have loads of money! How about this for a stimulus package? Tax the richest 10% 1 extra percentage point in tax, give it to the poorest 10% in a rebate and maybe, just maybe they will be able to pay their mortages - which means no credit crunch, no massive interest rate cuts, no recession, which in turn means that all your rich little friends get to keep their lovely stock market dividends!

Sounds like Mike_115 has the right idea - use it to pay off some personal debt - its not going to be as easy to pay off the National one.

[pallas_m]

Remove the word "extra" from your thinking about the "stimulus package". The GOP pulled this trick before right after Bush stole the 2000 election. Back then it was to quell our horror about the re-count in Florida and make the largest proportion of the US pop to say "whatever" and go back to the everyday living.

Just like they did in 2000 they are giving you a cash advance on your 2009 tax return proceeds. Your net gain is, at best, interest earned on $300, $600, $1200 (married) plus $300 per child after during about a 9 month period. Thats assuming you save it and do not owe taxes. If you owe then you subtract it from what you owe and subtract it from next years proceeds that you may or may not get.


If you do get it, what they want you to do is spend it at US stores so that the GOP has rosier economic numbers for the November general election. But what happens after that artificial bump up? Nuttin.

Answer: Do not spend it. Save it and keep cutting your discretionary spending (luxury items, vacations, eating out) until real US prosperity based on US productivity returns.

In my Southern California neighborhood they are limiting the sales of rice at Costco and Sam's Club. Its called food rationing folks. They did that to meat in Europe during WW II.

Before stuffing my "2009 cash advance" away I might buy a few 20 lb bags of rice and some canned goods.