Will the 'rebate' check really do anything to stimulate the economy? Or is it just welfare for tax payers?

It's disturbing to see the SAME folks that don't want 'welfare' for the poor,eagerly await their handout from this corrupt govt.!
The poor and disabled won't see a penny! Yes,spending money is what makes the economy strong,but that spending money usually comes from earned wages. Just throwing money at the economy will not stimulate it! The economy is dead,and all the rebate check will do is make the corpse twitch.

They'll probably tax us on it and then take it out of our tax refunds. Didn't they do that before?

They could also just be telling us that so that we'll spend now on the hopes of getting that check.

First off, there is NO "stimulus package" yet. Congress is still debating it. Something may come of it but it's also possible that NOTHING will materialize at all. With the number of competing interests involved it's completely possible that NOTHING will come of it at all.

Even at it's most generous amount the proposed "stimulus plan" represents far less than 1% of the entire US economy. As such it will barely be a blip on the economic radar screen and in the end won't make a shred of difference.

Several important points:

1. If passed, the plan will increase the national debt as there is no offsetting cost cuts or tax increases to pay for it. We're between 7 and 9 TRILLION in the crapper right now and increasing that for any reason is foolish.

2. A large chunk of the US debt is held by foreign countries with China leading the pack. That means that a significant chunk of the increase the the debt will likely be gobbled up by the Chinese government. Do we REALLY want them holding even more sway over our economy??

3. A fair chunk of any payout will be splurged on discretionary purchases such as TVs, computers and other non-essentials. That's what they're hoping for however plenty of more responsible folks will use it to pay down debt or clear past due bills. That won't affect the overall economy very much at all but will help those folks directly with reduced interest costs.

4. Of the money that gets spent on non-essentials a fair chunk of that will be on Chinese-made goods. Again, advantage China. Do we REALLY want to give them a double boost with this??

5. IMHO a FAR better plan would be one that would help roll back the cost increases that ALL Americans are dealing with. If we can cut gasoline costs by $1 per gallon the knock-on effects on the economy will be dramatic as more funds will be available to ALL social classes, not the middle income folks who have less need for the "rebate" in the first place.

6. Much has been bandied about about an economic "recession" that some of the politicos and talking heads on TV are claiming that we are in. This could not be further from the truth! The textbook definition of a recession is 2 or more consecutive quarters (6 months) of shrinkage of the GNP. While the growth rate of the GNP has shrunk over the past year or so, the GNP itself continues to grow. This is basic Economics 101 and it's pretty obvious that most of the folks claiming otherwise either failed the subject or never took it in the first place.

Could we be headed towards a recession? Sure! Do we need to take action now to prevent a recession in the next couple of years? Of course! Are we in one right now? No way!

rebate check's will only put us deeper in debt. we need to bring the jobs that went over sea's back so we can have the jobs we need to build our economy back up.

I do not think that the checks will stimulate the economy as many people who will be receiving the refund will use it to save in this possible recession, and to pay off credit-card debt (which does NOTHING for the economy) I do not think it is welfare due to the fact that tax-payers will have those funds deducted from next years tax returns. Its just the government giving you your money a bit earlier, like a loan with no interest, that you did not ask for

Show me the money....$100-200-300....it doesn't matter to me, it's better than nothin. But i do agree, it's not gonna do a damn thing for the economy.

I think i'll just say what everybody's been thinkin....

MAN, WE'RE FU*KED!!

Actually, the poor will see a little bit. Not the 600/1200 that passed, but then they don't pay income tax below a certain level. Anybody on welfare would get back $300.

Basically, we're just paying that much less tax for last year is effectively what the rebate is for. Now I don't agree with the 6-7 years of growth the one person is talking about (he must not have remembered the fallout from the dot-com bust or 9/11), but the economy, in all of its insanity, still functions around one principal: it works when money flows through it.

And if you think the economy is dead now, you obviously weren't around to remember the 70's. Hell, things were so bad back then, we had to invent an annoying form of music to make us forget it. (anybody remember gas lines and 19% mortgage rates?)

WOW. If you actually studied economics you would see that giving more back to the people to avoid a recession or pull out of one is 101- because it usually works. If you look at the Great Depression you will see that it didn't work until the war started, because the amount of stimulus couldn't be provided internally. The war met that increase.
Yes there are many officials that are either corrupt or out for their own gain and agenda. It is what we have to work with- either fight to change it, or watch what you vote for and change it. But get your facts straight before blasting people that are actually doing something about the problem.
By the way, a recession (or economic downturn) is typical following a period of growth. America has seen great growth over the past 6 - 7 years. We'll come out of it and be ust fine.
Don't be so gloom.

A couple of things. You seem to be making a point instead of asking a question. You don't seem to recognize were the government gets its money. If it is a tax rebate, that means somebody paid taxes. Hence it is earned income and it is not a handout. No the tax rebate doesn't go to the poor as they do not pay federal income taxes, thus it is literally impossible to receive a federal income tax rebate. As far as stimulating the economy it will probably have an effect, but not a signifcant one. And no the economy is not dead, we've had 6 years of solid growth in both gdp and wages. There is no reason currently to expect an extended recession, as many areas of the economy are still growing strongly.

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