In case you missed it...

[BigTwinky]

Talk about a ban-aid fix. Other that upping the party's ratings pre-election, I never really see the point in doing so. Sure, some spend it, merchants make some extra cash, the government gets part of it back in taxes...and then what?

[Thrashdragon]

The new plan, which is in its final stages and will probably pass, gives $300 to every individual ($600 for couples) that made at least $3,000 last year and less than $75,000 last year (double the amounts for couples). Each child in the house under 18 nets you another $300, up to a cap of $1200 total per household.

The original plan was for $800 per individual ($1600 per couple), but this did not give money to people that didn't pay any taxes last year.

In short, this "rebate", that is going to spend approximately $150 billion dollars, is now an excuse to give you a bit of your money back, and to give some of your money to people that didn't earn it.

Thanks for using my tax money to prop up the poor again, guv'mint!

[Thrashdragon]

The final plan has been announced:

WASHINGTON - Congressional leaders announced a deal with the White House Thursday on an economic stimulus package that would give most tax filers refunds of $600 to $1,200, and more if they have children.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Congress would act on the agreement ? hammered out in a week of intense negotiations and uncustomary bipartisanship ? "at the earliest date, so that those rebate checks can be in the mail."

President Bush praised the agreement at the White House, saying it "has the right set of policies and is the right size."

The rebates, which would go to about 116 million families, had appeal for both Democrats and Republicans. Pelosi's staff noted that they would include $28 billion in checks to 35 million working families who wouldn't have been helped by Bush's original proposal. Republicans, for their part, were pleased that the bulk of the rebates ? more than 70 percent, according to an analysis by Congress' Joint Tax Committee ? would go to individuals who pay taxes.

Individuals who pay income taxes would get up to $600, working couples $1,200 and those with children an additional $300 per child under the agreement. Workers who make at least $3,000 but don't pay taxes would get $300 rebates.

The first rebate payments could begin going out in May, and most people could have them by July, said Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, noting that the IRS will already be overwhelmed processing 2007 tax returns. The rebates were expected to cost about $100 billion, and the package also includes close to $50 billion in business tax cuts.

The principal players in pulling the deal together were Pelosi, House Republican leader John Boehner and Paulson. The package would allow businesses to immediately write off 50 percent of purchases of plants and other capital equipment and permit small businesses to write off additional purchases of equipment. A GOP-written provision to allow businesses suffering losses now to reclaim taxes previously paid was dropped.

Pelosi, D-Calif., agreed to drop increases in food stamp and unemployment benefits during a Wednesday meeting in exchange for gaining the rebates of at least $300 for almost everyone earning a paycheck, including those who make too little to pay income taxes.

"I can't say that I'm totally pleased with the package, but I do know that it will help stimulate the economy. But if it does not, then there will be more to come," Pelosi said.

Boehner said the agreement "was not easy for the two of us and our respective caucuses."

"You know, many Americans believe that Washington is broken," the Ohio Republican said. "But I think this agreement and I hope that this agreement will show the American people that we can fix it and will serve to move along other bipartisan agreements that we can have in the future."

Paulson said he would work with the House and Senate to enact the package as soon as possible, because "speed is of the essence." But he also cautioned that "the work is far from over."

The Treasury Department has already been talking to the IRS about getting the checks out "as quickly as possible, recognizing that the tax filing season is ongoing," said Treasury spokesman Andrew DeSouza.

The rebates would phase out gradually for individuals whose income exceeds $75,000 and couples with incomes above $150,000, aides said. Individuals with incomes up to $87,000 and couples up to $174,000 would get partial rebates. The caps are higher for those with children.

The agreement left some lawmakers in both parties with a bitter taste, and they complained that their leaders had sacrificed too much in the interest of striking a deal. Many senior Democrats were particularly upset that the package omitted the unemployment extension.

"I do not understand, and cannot accept, the resistance of President Bush and Republican leaders to including an extension of unemployment benefits for those who are without work through no fault of their own," Rep. Charles B. Rangel, D-N.Y., the Ways and Means Committee chairman, said in a statement.

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., the Finance Committee Chairman, said leaving out the unemployment extension was "a mistake," as he announced plans to craft a separate stimulus package in the Senate starting next week.

Majority Leader Harry Reid said the goal is to send the package to the White House by Feb. 15 for Bush's signature, but he noted the Senate would likely try to add more spending to the package.

"I expect that the (Finance) Committee and other senators will work to improve the House package by adding funds for other initiatives that can boost the economy immediately, such as unemployment benefits, nutrition assistance, state relief and infrastructure investment," Reid said in a statement.

Asked about this, Paulson praised Reid's leadership but said, "I don't know what he has in mind."

Bush has supported larger rebates of $800-$1,600, but his plan would have left out 30 million working households who earn paychecks but don't make enough to pay income tax, according to calculations by the Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center. An additional 19 million households would receive only partial rebates under Bush's initial proposal.

To address the mortgage crisis, the package raises the limit on Federal Housing Administration loans from $362,000 to as high as $729,750 in expensive areas, allowing more subprime mortgage holders to refinance into federally insured loans. To widen the availability of mortgages across the country, it also provides a one-year boost to the cap on loans that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can buy, from $417,000 up to $729,750 in high-cost markets.

(This version CORRECTS SUBS 21st graf, bgng, To address the .. to add detail on housing package and correct numbers $729,750 sted $725,000; AP Video; editing to TRIM. Moving on general news and financial services.)

[thedeadlyassassin]

I tend to not believe what people tell me. Unless it's 100% accurate, Bush didn't lie in my book. And I want proof on it's accuracy to make me believe.

[Dr_Zoidberg]

I know you were not directing your post toward me, totally, however I will say that I never denied any truthfullness behind any of it, but a news site that can't even publish something grammatically correct isn't something I'd put my money on for any kind of accuracy.

If you are basing the accuracy and integrity of someone on their grammar and eloquence then surely you can't trust the man who said:-

"Sometimes its hard to put food on your family".

"Not one doubt in my mind, we will fail".

"You know, when you give a man more money in his pocket?in this case, a woman more money in her pocket to expand a business, it?they build new buildings. And when somebody builds a new building somebody has got to come and build the building. And when the building expanded it prevented additional opportunities for people to work."

"My attitude about the world changed, and I know the attitude about the world from a lot of folks here in America's attitude changed."

"Trade is an important subject here at Caterpillar, and the reason why is because a lot of the product you make here, you sell to somebody else, sell overseas to another country. That's trade. And yet it's?it's a topic of hot debate."

One George W Bush.

Some more folks...
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=U5RssZggNUc

[ThisElfRocksHard]

I tend to not believe what people tell me. Unless it's 100% accurate, Bush didn't lie in my book. And I want proof on it's accuracy to make me believe.

How does that expression go? "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me 935 times..."

[Rovey Wade]

[BigTwinky]

I tend to not believe what people tell me. Unless it's 100% accurate, Bush didn't lie in my book. And I want proof on it's accuracy to make me believe.

Bush is a person, just as anyone else, and yet you seem believe every word he says without proof.
Interesting

[-IRC-MIKE]

Well, evidently the majority of the U.S. believes him too. He won the election not once, but twice.

Also on the Agenda:



That is one funny as hell Avatar.

[Dr_Zoidberg]

Bush didn't lie in my book.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=sheyqAjPp-k

[Thrashdragon]

Well, evidently the majority of the U.S. believes him too. He won the election not once, but twice.

That's called "voting for the lesser of two evils". I voted for him, even though I think he's a moronic puppet of the oil and defense industries, because I believe the alternative would have been much worse.

[ThisElfRocksHard]

That is one funny as hell Avatar.

Tell that to my wife; ever since I made admin, she (MinervaRelefen) has been telling me that it looks unprofessional and should be changed. Nothing else out there I like though...

[baconoclock]

Its like people who keep convincing themselves that they are driving a polluting monster of an SUV because it keeps them safe.

or people that think it is better for the environment to drive a prius.

Glad you said someting Limey, i was about to. Also, Trucks / SUV's can be a necessity. Ever hauled a half cord of wood in a prius? Towed another car with it? moved furniture?

[Rand{CLR}]

Well, evidently the majority of the U.S. believes him too. He won the election not once, but twice.

Don't forget, he actually lost the first election if you're looking at the majority vote.

The second one is more of a mystery.

-Rand

[WalkinTarget]

Listening to the Police here ... song is 'Murder By Numbers' , quite the catchy tune !

Lyrics:
Now you can join the ranks of the illustrious
In history's great dark hall of fame
All our greatest killers were industrious
At least the ones that we all know by name

But you can reach the top of your profession
If you become the leader of the land
For murder is the sport of the elected
And you don't need to lift a finger of your hand