Friday, January 18, 2008

Uncle Sam to the rescue?

Friday, January 18, 2008


You may or may not know this, but the U.S. economy ain't doing so hot right now. People are losing their jobs left and right. The value of the American dollar is plummeting. Our stock markets are, too. The number of people buying homes if down and the number of people foreclosing on the homes they current own is WAY up.

Grim, right?

President Bush today proposed his economic stimulus package. Through a series of tax breaks and rebates, he thinks he can fix what's ailing us. Everyone on Capital Hill, including Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, is being all hush-hush with the specifics, but most people think he'd like to eliminate the 10% tax bracket. Basically that translates to a rebate of up to $800 for single filers and up to $1600 for married filers.

Great. Who couldn't use an extra $800 or $1600 bucks in their pocket, right?

Well, apparently, true to form, President Bush seems to want to black ball nearly a majority of the middle class (households earning between $25-40K). He is believed to be backing a non-fully refundable rebate. This means that unless you've earned enough money to owe income tax, you won't be getting any coin from Uncle Sam.

Looks like Bush are trying to fuck the middle class again.

There is a precedent for such a move. One of the President's first acts in office was the 2001 economic stimulus package -- a package very similar to the one he's proposing now.

I'm not sure why he's assuming these rebates will work anyway. I mean, it's only $800, after all. He's assuming that people will actually consume things with their $800. It seems to me that if your house is being foreclosed on, you'd use that money to make an extra payment and not buy the newest Gucci monogram bag. But what do I know?

On second thought, maybe the President has the right idea. You know La'Monifa and Sha'Quanna from around the way will be licking their chops and waiting with high anxiety for that rebate so they can run to their local high-end goods store to purchase their first (authentic) gaudy monogrammed bag. And you know Man-Man, Pookie and Mook-Mook can't wait to get their hands on the latest rims or Bathing Ape hoodie.

Perhaps there is a reason he's president and I'm not, after all.
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8 comments:

Anonymous said...

You're right- you have no idea what the world you're talking about.

Bush is not doing anything to the middle-class. Contrary to popular belief, Bush is doing a lot for the middle-class people.

I don't think you see the true picture here. Even if I explain it, I don't feel you could understand it.

Advice- Just spend your few hundred bucks, be quiet and enjoy the rest of your 2008.

PRIMO said...

Im So So So SO So So So Tired Of Bush.

Im Just Ready For The 08 Election Since It Will be the very first time i will be able to vote and there is no way bush can be re-elected.

As of yet i dont know who i will vote for, But i will vote.

Darius T. Williams said...

Yea, I heard about this - not sure if this is really the solution though.

Mr. Jones said...

Captain - You're a dick. And not even a nice big one that's pretty to look at. You're a tiny, ugly dick.

Primo - Congrats on being able to vote!!!!! I don;t care who you vote for...just do it! It's your civic duty! (clearly I'm mad excited about new voters).

Darius - I hear you. I don't know if it's best either. It sort of worked in 2001. We'll see.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Jones-

In all due respect, this subject is not about my dick or your thoughts about a dick. I apologize for my snarky comment, that was out of line.

This is a matter of liquidation and a great benefit to the lower and middle class sectors. I take this subject very seriously because I hate to see a recession and the continual decline of our dollar value.

70% of our economy is consumer driven. What can benefit everyone and our U.S. economy, we need to spend our rebates wisely. To maximize the benefit of the federal rebate, it is advised to spend the rebate on goods and services. Paying off debt is also a good idea. Spending your rebate in the retail sector is OK- but not really what we need at this time. Use the rebate to pay off a year worth of car insurance, credit card, utilities, travel, buy something new besides clothes or shoes or anything that depreciate in value. Buying a new car can be very beneficial at this time. Putting money towards goods & services keeps people employed and keep jobs opening up for new hires. Just today the Fed just dropped the overnight lending rate 75 basis points in an emergency for banks to keep the market from freezing up on firms that needs to manage their cashflow. Many companies are also liquidating to keep up with market demands. Besides, this federal package is putting more funds in the hands of the unemployed and welfare programs, which is a major victory for equity advocates.In addition, Bush is also pushing aid to those in sub-prime mortgage crisis, which is already in effect today.


So, Darius, the solution is simple, instead of spending money on retail depreciated merchandise, we need to put more money into our goods and services sectors to stabilize our financial constraints.

For an individual, I can certainly use $800 dollars wisely and I'm sure a family can certainly use $1,600 dollars towards something meaningful as well. I don't think I would qualify for the rebate anyhow because of my tax bracket, but many Americans can certainly stablize the economy through this federal benefit if they know what to do with it.

Mr. Jones said...

See...I can deal with you when you're behaving. I accept your apology.

I'm in the middle of something now, but will come back to civilly address your points later.

Darius T. Williams said...

You gotta love The Captain - right?

yet another black guy said...

hmmm, nice points Captain.

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