Am I really going to get a check for 600 bucks? I'm going to pump that right back into the economy. And by economy, I mean strip club. And by strip club, I mean massage parlor. And by massage parlor, I mean hooker on the side of the road.
this is stupid. My wife and I are going to take that $1,200 and pay off the gas, electric, and water bill for the winter. Any money that we don't spend goes directly to savings. There's no frigging way we're doing any frivolous spending for a while.
Exactly. This is a real dumb move, i.e., political. This debt is going to **** up the economy even more. These "delay tactics" ar only gonna make the inevitable crunch even worse.
I'll gladly accept my rebate, and I think that the corporate tax cuts could do some real good, but if the Fed justs prints money to pay for this, inflation may negate any boost in the economy.
I still cannot get over this. I'm happy that I get some money, but I know that the long-term impacts of this are almost certainly gonna cost me WAY more than 1200 bucks.
I didn't think about the political aspect. You're absolutely right, this is a classic pat each other on the back election year move. Again, I'm not an Economist, but I think this $150B package would have been more beneficial if it was directed at small local businesses. or maybe give some portion of it to small business loans. I'm pretty sure a lot more people would go into business if they could get a lower rate small business loan or some sort of subisidy. Wouldn't these be more helpful?
I read somewhere that about $70 B of it is going to corporate tax breaks. Not sure if it's directed to small business or Halliburton
People go into business because there is someone to buy their products. Businesses don't just invest for the hell of it - they invest to respond to demand. If there's no demand, the small businesses will just pocket the money. The best way to stimulate a slow-consumer economy is get consumers spending. If people are buying their products, the businesses will be more than happy to expand on their own.
Much of this, I believe, is in the form of an increased Sec 179 deduction -which actually costs the government very little money. In that scenario, you get to take a bigger tax break now, but have to pay more in future years. From a government perspective, it's the absolute ideal form of temporary, low-cost stimulus if you're going to give a business tax break.
Fair enough - but it looks like the government is going to need to rely on people a lot dumber than those here on this message board. That money is going straight to savings for this "consumer".
Absolutely - it's pretty much universally agreed that giving money to the poor is the best form of stimulus because they'll spend close to 100% of it. That's the big reason that money is being given even to those who pay payroll taxes (SS/Medicare) but no income taxes.
im suer all corp tax breaks will go to halliburton but like others have said its just a "look what we did for the people" job by the politicians. economically it significant...i feared that at the first signs of bumps that politicians would start calling for "stimulus" packages. major, you are right about lower incomes exhausting all of their funds, but again, its only a temporary injection and i dont think a very significant change...especially in the long run
YAY for the further weakening of the dollar. i apologize for not being enthusiastic about a $600 check. i read that we're spending $9.6B/month on iraq, and the fed defecit this year is going to be $250B.... giving us money without cutting spending somewhere sure seems like a sound fiscal policy to me. and how is this supposed to help 6 months from now? we may not get the money until june or july. i'm not gonna hold my breath. http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/18/news/economy/rebate_how_it_works/index.htm
You seem like a pretty sharp cat, so I'm sure this isn't news to you. The typical American is a financial idiot. American spends more than it earns and borrows more than it can pay back. You give Americans 1200 dollars (or 600) and I'll bet my 1200 that most of them spend it within 30 days. There also appears to be tax break for businesses to purchase office equipment. Need to figure out the details and see if I can use this to get a new laptop!
Withink a week, tops. Not only that, they'll refinance their house yet again to pay for a big purchase that the $1200 won't cover. And maybe some lotto tickets and a carton of Virginia slims to go with it.
