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What are your thoughts on the rebate the gov. is going to send out?


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Its not that I am not going to like the money we are going to get, but I like many, many others are not going to use it the way the govt. wants us to spend it. I like many others will be spending on back bills or new ones not frivolous spending like they are hoping. It is that frivolity that will boost the ecomny; so they say. So, with most of paying bills how is that going to boost the econmy? I dont' get it, or am I missing something huge?

 

Tammy

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I'm not highly educated in government and finances, but I'd not be jumping for joy over this. You don't get something for nothing. Maybe it will help avoid a recession, but it could hurt in the long run too.

 

Yeah, like anyone, we'd love the extra cash, but in the end it will come back and bite you in the butt. When Jesse Ventura, was our governor, we had a surplus in our state coffers and he gave rebates back to everyone in the state. I thought it ridiculous because you don't give back excess money-you hang on to and eventually you will need it. Sure enough, before long there were funding issues. Right now our current governor is wanting to borrow a billion dollars to fix roads, which will also cost us an enormous amount of money in interest.

 

Again, I'm not a financial guru and don't know enough about a potential recession and so on to intelligently answer this, but if nothing else, please don't look at it blindly as a wonderful thing. Nothing in life is free. :(

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while I'm thrilled at the rebate (6 children x $300 is a bunch!), we won't be adding much to the economy by spending on luxury items and such. Most will go toward my midwife for prenatal/delivery costs, a few homeschool supplies, credit card bills (eek!). We already did the overspending, KWIM? Anyway, I don't get the mentality, but the rebate will be nice!

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and that's what they are hoping will boost the economy. There are just too many folks out there who want it all. Even if people pay it on their credit cards, that will free up room for them to use the credit cards again. Either way, the spending is done.

 

I, personally, will probably be putting the money toward a car for my daughter (especially if the amounts are correct because we'll get $2100-$2400 depending on whether they count 18yodd), so I guess I'll be doing exactly what they want...

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Its not that I am not going to like the money we are going to get, but I like many, many others are not going to use it the way the govt. wants us to spend it. I like many others will be spending on back bills or new ones not frivolous spending like they are hoping. It is that frivolity that will boost the ecomny; so they say. So, with most of paying bills how is that going to boost the econmy? I dont' get it, or am I missing something huge?

 

Tammy

 

Playing Devil's advocate, here ...

 

Perhaps, if you use the money to pay your back bills, that will free you up to *spend* money in the near future? Money you'd not be able to spend if you hadn't paid those bills?

 

I betcha it almost always works out to spending, in one way or another.

 

And now, I know NOTHING about this rebate, so I'm off to check the news ...

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Isn't this simply an advance on next year's tax return? Or am I mistaken?

 

This is what happened with the last handout, wasn't it? Took many people by surprise last time around.

 

I wonder if it comes too late to have any serious impact...June; seems markets will have adjusted by them but I guess the psychological affect is worth something!

 

Mary

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I'm not in favor of forced redistribution of wealth. If someone wants to stop by and give me a few hundred dollars, fine (that actually happened this past Dec.; we were floored), but I am not happy that a government is taking money from taxpayers and giving it to other taxpayers. I benefit from this scheme, and I wish it were not a reality.

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ok...this money for some people will NOT help them...

 

I personally someone who uses the system...unfortunately. So, when the money comes they will spend it all. Then...go back to how they were...waiting on the next time (the THIRD time) they can file bankruptcy.

 

As for the economy I can't see it will be boosted much.

 

As for who gets the money and how much...I can't even comment.

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Owning our own business means we never see a return. We always owe. So while $3300 should be coming to us with this rebate, it undoubtedly won't.

 

Remember that when you think your dentist is taking you to the bank ;) Last year my dentist bil paid 26k in taxes. And then there's the overhead, the staff, and the school bills...

 

OK, I'm done :)

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On the one hand, we pay US taxes and use no US services. Even if we needed to be evacuated from some trouble spot we'd be charged separately for that (it happened to someone I know). On the other hand, I'm unlikely to use any rebate we are given to boost the US economy.

 

Laura

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Owning our own business means we never see a return. We always owe. So while $3300 should be coming to us with this rebate, it undoubtedly won't.

 

Remember that when you think your dentist is taking you to the bank ;) Last year my dentist bil paid 26k in taxes. And then there's the overhead, the staff, and the school bills...

 

OK, I'm done :)

 

Yep. We are small business owners and our tax bill last year was over 25K.

I wonder if I would take less issue with this 'rebate' scheme if the government would call it what it is.

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Isn't this simply an advance on next year's tax return? Or am I mistaken?

 

No, this is in addition to what you would normally get back when you file your tax return.

 

The last rebate was an advance payment of the child credit, which was new that year. Anyone who didn't get the rebate (but should have), was able to claim it on their tax return for that year. I imagine they'll do something similar this year, so in that sense, you could say it's an advance on next year's tax return.

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This is what happened with the last handout, wasn't it? Took many people by surprise last time around.

 

I wonder if it comes too late to have any serious impact...June; seems markets will have adjusted by them but I guess the psychological affect is worth something!

 

Mary

 

LOL! This is a quote from an email I sent my dh when he told me what we'd be getting: "True government at work: “Something needs to be done quickly. Let’s speed it up, we’re going into a recession….yep, we can start getting those checks out in 5 months.†". He responded with "Exactly. I guess they are going for the short term psychological effect on the market. I suppose they can’t do much before returns are filed." Heh...just amused me you had the same thought :D.

 

To be honest, dh handles all the finances and I'm not educated hardly at all about it. My gut says it's a good think, but it could just be the spaghetti dinner talking ;).

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If checks are being sent to people who do not pay federal income tax, I wonder how they can be called 'rebates'. Don't they *really* just amount to welfare?

 

I know when we were in college we were considered low income due to work study, etc. We were able to get a tax refund legally, a small refund, even though we did not have a technical income. Work study, etc. is considered grant money. We were not on welfare. So I assume it is just something similar to this.

 

I do think it is an advance, though. I could be wrong, but I am planning like it is just in case.

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I'm not in favor of forced redistribution of wealth. If someone wants to stop by and give me a few hundred dollars, fine (that actually happened this past Dec.; we were floored), but I am not happy that a government is taking money from taxpayers and giving it to other taxpayers. I benefit from this scheme, and I wish it were not a reality.

 

I just love your post! I completely agree.

 

Go Ron Paul! :)

Kate

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I agree with Pam. I think this will come back to bite us come tax time, just like the last time they gave out "free" money. I know that the last time was related to the increase in the child tax credit, but I think this will reduce the amount of what we will be considered to have paid in. I guess we'll see...

 

I don't know how to find out for sure either way. If it will affect our tax situation next year I don't know how we can decline. But if we do get anything, I think I'll put it on next year's oil bill, since that's where next year's tax refund will be going anyway.

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I'm among the minority (in terms of political and economic circles) who strongly oppose these schemes. It's true that such "rebates" (which name I consider a misnomer) serve as economic stimulants; there's really no question about that. If the primary goal is to stimulate the economy, though, this approach is not the surest, swiftest means to that end. Those surer, swifter methods were left on the cutting room floor. This package, though, is what appeals to the masses; it has the psychological effect of making people think they're getting free money. But as we all know, there ain't no such thing as a free lunch ~ especially from a government that's already deeply in debt.

 

One may ask, what becomes of the monies people are "rebated"? Much of it goes into goods that aren't domestically produced. So whose economy do we stimulate? Bottom line, it's a band-aid which in my opinion only serves to further erode the sensibilities (or lack thereof) of a consumer nation.

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Bottom line, it's a band-aid which in my opinion only serves to further erode the sensibilities (or lack thereof) of a consumer nation.

 

Yes, and although I really haven't looked into it much, I wonder if the Consumer vs. Income Tax would help with this problem.

 

Karenciavo with 25% tax bracket + 15% self employment tax + 7% sales tax + 2% state tax + some of the highest property taxes in the nation = frustration

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I've never heard my husband not be overly enthusiastic about a tax break and he doesn't think this one is a great idea. We are happy to get the money, don't get me wrong, but (to quote him) it is not a good long term solution. It just solves a very short term problem and is expensive.

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Well, I guess I see it as getting my own money back. I don't care about the politics of it, just show me the $$$. That is probably really shallow but the idea of receiving $1,800 right as we are going into our paycheck-free summer sounds very nice. I could fly to see my brand new niece.

 

And yes, it bugs me that the government is so screwed up that it even thinks about solutions like this.

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I think it's a terrible idea. I watched this bit from Glenn Beck a couple of weeks ago about the national debt and social security and all the problems that will go along with that. I urge you to

. And now they are giving away 1% of the GNP, and not cutting government spending, for what?

 

And why wouldn't paying off debt help the economy? Most of our current problems are caused by a bunch of people defaulting. Seems like not defaulting would help everyone.

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One may ask, what becomes of the monies people are "rebated"? Much of it goes into goods that aren't domestically produced. So whose economy do we stimulate? Bottom line, it's a band-aid which in my opinion only serves to further erode the sensibilities (or lack thereof) of a consumer nation.

 

You absolutely have it right. Such good points, Colleen.

 

Warmly,

Kate

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Bottom line, it's a band-aid which in my opinion only serves to further erode the sensibilities (or lack thereof) of a consumer nation.

 

That says it all, I think. It's incredibly irresponsible for a government to be handing out placebo money, when it is many trillions in debt and deficit, and then essentially saying to people, "Ignore the fact that we're in a recession/depression. Go out and spend even more money you don't really have to spend."

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All the talking heads are in line behind this- The chairman of the Fed, Ben Beranke, President Bush, Congressional Dems, and Congressional GOP. And, asyou all know, they can never agree on anything.

 

The thing is with the declining value of the currency, the trade and budget deficit, the collapse of the housing bubble, and the panic on Wall Street and international stock exchanges, the US is -maybe- on the cusp of a major recession. So they're pulling out all the stops to prevent this from happening.

 

The full mechanics of the rebate haven't been ironed out, the president has submitted a plan, Congress will finagle with it and send it back to him. It really looks like all sides are getting in line to support it. The idea is to pum $150 billion into the economy now. Quickly. Hopefully people use the money to buy stuff, the vendor buys stuff with the money he got from his customer, etcetera, hopefully the $150 billion filters through the economy exchanges hands many times over and prevents the recession everybody is worried about.

 

Where wil the money come from? Government Debt, it'll be borrowed and paid for by future taxpayers.

 

The government owes $9.2 trillion dollars right now. After this injection, it'll be $9.35+ trillion plus whatever the deficit is this year. We as taxpayers will continue to pay the interest and compound interest on that money into the future. Divide $9.35 trillion by 300 million Americans and we each owe the interest on $31,000 off the top of taxes each year. Fortunatly the interest rate the government pays is low.

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