I know I’m several days late on this … I blame the loss of my dearly beloved Powerbook and the business that accompanied the approaching primary election and my trying to catch up on work.
I’m no fan of Bob Corker. I did not vote for him when he ran for Senate. But … the man deserves recognition for doing the right thing and speaking out against the “stimulus” plan that has swept the government by storm, even though his opposition is unpopular.
Though he said he was happy Americans would get checks, he said he found “something inappropriate about a deficit-ridden federal government borrowing money from our grandchildren and sprinkling it across the country for a short-term fix that will do little, if anything to jump-start our troubled economy.” Hear, hear!
(From “A flawed stimulus plan,” an editorial in the Chattanooga Times-Free Press)
Sen. Corker … thanks for standing up and being willing to calling this exactly what it is … a political ploy.
Well, technically, the cost of this stimulus won’t be added to the debt, since it’s really just an advance on people’s refunds for next year. What it really amounts to is an interest-free loan from the government… I suspect that plenty of people who will happily spend their checks will be perturbed when they file their 2008 taxes and find out their refund got docked $600… or that they owe $600 more.
You are correct that the rebates are advances on 2008 taxes refunds. It is my understanding, though, that the refunds are generated by making temporary tax cuts on the 2008 income tax rates (just like what happened in 2001). In other words, whatever refund you get upon filing your 2008 taxes (or amount you owe) would be the same as it would be had the stimulus package not passed…unless perhaps you didn’t qualify for the full rebate in 2008 (based on your 2007 tax return) but once everything was said and done you did qualify…in which case your tax return would be higher.
I think in the end it hardly matters whether or not the cost of the “stimulus” is added to the debt given that we’re already spending money faster than we can
raiseprint it.More seriously, it matters not where the money comes from … there will come a time when no amount of hand-waving and handouts from the government will encourage people to spend like there’s no tomorrow. The folks at the Federal Reserve claim they’re better at managing the economy than the Fed of the roaring twenties. I hope they’re right (even though the evidence seems to indicate differently) because when the day or reckoning comes … it might get ugly.
I had not heard about this. Way to go Corker!