HEY I've got an idea; lets make the tax cuts PERMANENT! Everyone seems to beleive we need economic stimulus so why not more than just a shot of stimulus; lets go whole hog. What could that hurt? OH wait; cant do that; that might work and we wouldnt need to elect liberals for our nanny state.

What rebate?

This plan is unfair to anyone living in the NorthEast or any other metropolitan area where the cost of living is inflated.

I'm not crying poverty, but the cut-off for the rebates is $75k -- which is pretty middle class when you live in NYC. Additionally, the ceiling of the alternative minimum tax is about $100k. So, if you make over $75k you lose your rebate. Over $100k and you have to pony up about 20% more tax on top of what you've already paid.

A much more fair way to jump start the economy would be to have cut the interest rates for a fixed period of time. This would allow homeowners to refinance and new owners and those with significant credit card debt to settle into a payment plan that is comfortable.

Most importantly, in my book, it would equally raise all boats -- no mater what your cost of living.

Go STIMulate yourself. A good analogy here is a hard-starting diesel engine. Some engines are described as being 'thirsty', meaning they need a little visit from the ether-bunny in the AM.
(That's because the fuel doesn't get mixed right with the air, so it never goes like it's spo'ta until it gets warm etc.)

Actually, what's happened is whoever was supposed to be taking care of it got a little lazy, doesn't have time or money to really fix it, or they're just plain incompetent, but they run it anyway.

Well, you've heard the phrase 'economic engine' before, well, this one's smoking a lot, and developing a strange expensive-sounding knocking noise at the back end, there. Is the Right Answer to ram the throttle flat and hold it? Are they trying to ram some sort of psychological barrier, here, one too many Mad Max movies, or do they just not have the skills to pay da billz, and too many people wearing green eyeshades and arm bands minding the till, there? It's neither here nor there, I guess, but here we are, and wherever you go, there ya are, and we're sitting in a big puddle of red ink, kind of like what happens when the power steering pump lets go and spews its' precious bodily fluids all over the garage. Hmmm...might be time to buy a Civic.

Gee, I didn't know you were that smart Moody, is this a new thing or were you always that smart? :)

Of course the stimulus package won't help much because we have OUTSOURCED so many jobs we have a surplus of employees and a DEFECIT OF JOBS.

I really think that the economic stimulus is going to hurt more then help. We need to focus on lower gas prices, stop reckless government spending, create jobs, lower tuition costs...I started a debate on Hey Monkey Brain! http://www.squidoo.com/theeconomicstimuluspackage to see how people really feel. So far The Economic Stimulus Package = Horse Dookie!

Looks like my 'stimulus' should arrive at right around the same time the IMF is going to suppress the price of gold with a sell off. Guess what the smart thing to do with your check is?

just a rabbit pellet in an ocean of shit.

"making a serious effort to solve the housing and credit crises"

Oh, for crying out loud...

Why is it that no one wants to admit that all of those corporate and individual tax cuts are promptly being transformed into investments in offshore production facilities that yield more profits due to lower labor costs and a paucity of environmental regulations?

Why is it that no one wants to admit that the fundamental problem is the U.S. economy doesn't create - or even keep - enough good jobs anymore?

Why is it that no one wants to admit that the American worker will NEVER be able to compete with an offshore worker whose housing and food costs are less than 1/20th of ours - UNLESS their costs rise to parity with ours or we have another "Great Depression" which completes our transformation into a third-world banana republic with an overclass of plantation bwanas?

Why is it that no one wants to admit that since 1980 Republican greed has been hard at work destroying our economy, our middle class, the future of our children - and thus America?

this from the dailyreckoning.com

"The United States is the General Motors economy - it is losing money on an annual basis, with high legacy costs, high debt, worn-out equipment, and a declining market share. Could it turn itself around? Yes. But not without a major upheaval - war¦revolution¦or bankruptcy.

Chris passes along another friend's advice: "Get out of the dollar, teach your children Chinese, and buy commodities," says Jim Rogers.

Until tomorrow,

Bill Bonner
The Daily Reckoning

no shit. this is nothing but a fart in the wind.

You want to solve this colossal fuck up instigated by greenspan and our fearless moron* for a prez?

Freeze all of the ARM's, then set the interest rated to be retroactive to the original terms. This will allow the owners that STILL have a house to at least recover a bit.

then pump money into alternative energy R & D to spur job growth.

stop bailing out the market, all it is is a free give away to the rich.

roll back morons* tax cuts for the rich. give a real tax cut to the poor and middle class so they can pump money into the economy.

and MOST OF ALL get the fuck out of Iraq, it's a money sucking, money laundering stinking pile of economy destroying shit.

After which, cut the budget in half for the dept of defense (even cut in half we would still have the largest military budget in the world). Take that money and pump it back into the US to rebuild the infrastructure that has been desimated by morons* asshole buddies in congress, that applies to the idiots on both sides of the isle.

Unless these measures are taken right away, we as a country are fucked. plain and simple.

continued...

over the past 1 1/2, the news went from: 10% chance of a recession - 25% chance of a recession - 50% chance of a recession -recession with a soft landing - recession with a hard landing - a long painful recession and now for the best one which I read for the first time yesterday, "small chance of a depression"!!!! what the fuck?

These dirty bastards have known this all along!! They have been trying to ease us into scalding water this whole time!!

They are doing their best to keep a run on the banks or bank holidays from happening. All so they can keep their money that they have stolen from us!!

Take you $600 bucks from this fucked up rebate (that they are going to tax you on next year as income) and put it into gold or invest in Euros. Do not take this money (which as been barrowed from china) and pump it back into the fiat economy. We are living life in one gigantic ponzi scheme and we are the schmucks falling for it. It's found "money" don't spend it. DON'T DON'T DON'T.

no shit. this is nothing but a fart in the wind.

You want to solve this colossal fuck up instigated by greenspan and our fearless moron* for a prez?

Freeze all of the ARM's, then set the interest rated to be retroactive to the original terms. This will allow the owners that STILL have a house to at least recover a bit.

then pump money into alternative energy R & D to spur job growth.

stop bailing out the market, all it is is a free give away to the rich.

roll back morons* tax cuts for the rich. give a real tax cut to the poor and middle class so they can pump money into the economy.

and MOST OF ALL get the fuck out of Iraq, it's a money sucking, money laundering stinking pile of economy destroying shit.

After which, cut the budget in half for the dept of defense (even cut in half we would still have the largest military budget in the world). Take that money and pump it back into the US to rebuild the infrastructure that has been desimated by morons* asshole buddies in congress, that applies to the idiots on both sides of the isle.

Unless these measures are taken right away, we as a country are fucked. plain and simple.

With the reckless spending record of this administration which has led to record national debt, deficits, falling dollar, phony endless war sapping our treasury, high priced energy and a middle class whose pockets are empty. This pittance may provide some relief for a short period of time. Bush is already asking for 70 billion dollars for his "war" to be followed soon by another 100 billion, already over 500 billion dollars and who knows where the funding will end. The estimate is somewhere between 2-3 trillion dollars to be committed in the future as a result of "war" costs, graft and obligations to military personnel care and benefits. The major result of this "stimulus" is for Bush to buy more time before he leaves office to avoid the angry reaction by the American people to his incompetent ,corrupt administration.

"The rebate might work almost too well..."

I'm holding my sides in laughter.