Jump to content

For us Yanks..


Arkan

Recommended Posts

What are you going to buy with your super awesome will solve everything stimulus tax 'rebate'?

 

Mine is going to bills, just what the government wants!

"Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger."

 

- Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials

 

"I have also been slowly coming to the realisation that knowledge and happiness are not necessarily coincident, and quite often mutually exclusive" - meta

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I paid off my cedit card.

"While it is true you learn with age, the down side is what you often learn is what a damn fool you were before"

Thomas Sowell

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oddly enough, the amount I'll be getting is just about the same size as the check I sent them a few weeks ago. So I'll toss it into the bank to offset that recent reduction in my balance. In general, I'm saving for a down payment on a house, so I suppose it will go towards that, eventually.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I didn't make the 3k or w/e qualification income the past year. :'(

There was a time when I questioned the ability for the schizoid to ever experience genuine happiness, at the very least for a prolonged segment of time. I am no closer to finding the answer, however, it has become apparent that contentment is certainly a realizable goal. I find these results to be adequate, if not pleasing. Unfortunately, connection is another subject entirely. When one has sufficiently examined the mind and their emotional constructs, connection can be easily imitated. More data must be gleaned and further collated before a sufficient judgment can be reached.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A REBATE? :shifty:

"It wasn't lies. It was just... bull****"."

             -Elwood Blues

 

tarna's dead; processing... complete. Disappointed by Universe. RIP Hades/Sand/etc. Here's hoping your next alt has a harp.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm probably just getting the minimum 300.

"Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger."

 

- Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials

 

"I have also been slowly coming to the realisation that knowledge and happiness are not necessarily coincident, and quite often mutually exclusive" - meta

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The government is paying back the US citizens, those who turned in a tax form this year, called a Stimulus Package. Those who are single get $600, married $1200 and for each kid they a get $300 for that. Gee that pittance might pay for fuel for two months, maybe. :shifty:

War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength

Baldur's Gate modding
TeamBG
Baldur's Gate modder/community leader
Baldur's Gate - Enhanced Edition beta tester
Baldur's Gate 2 - Enhanced Edition beta tester

Icewind Dale - Enhanced Edition beta tester

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The government is paying back the US citizens, those who turned in a tax form this year, called a Stimulus Package. Those who are single get $600, married $1200 and for each kid they a get $300 for that. Gee that pittance might pay for fuel for two months, maybe. :shifty:

 

 

Two months? Good luck with that.

"Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger."

 

- Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials

 

"I have also been slowly coming to the realisation that knowledge and happiness are not necessarily coincident, and quite often mutually exclusive" - meta

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Call me cynical old conspiracy tehorist, but doesn't this just siphon cash into the hands of profiteering companies? Shouldn't the gas companies take a hit? I mean they've been making record profits for years...

"It wasn't lies. It was just... bull****"."

             -Elwood Blues

 

tarna's dead; processing... complete. Disappointed by Universe. RIP Hades/Sand/etc. Here's hoping your next alt has a harp.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The government is paying back the US citizens, those who turned in a tax form this year, called a Stimulus Package. Those who are single get $600, married $1200 and for each kid they a get $300 for that. Gee that pittance might pay for fuel for two months, maybe. :o

 

It's to prevent a recession, not help you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The government is paying back the US citizens, those who turned in a tax form this year, called a Stimulus Package. Those who are single get $600, married $1200 and for each kid they a get $300 for that. Gee that pittance might pay for fuel for two months, maybe. :o

 

It's to prevent a recession, not help you.

 

True, but wouldn't it make more sense to give out some sort of voucher that works for the most recession hit industries? Rather than oil?

"It wasn't lies. It was just... bull****"."

             -Elwood Blues

 

tarna's dead; processing... complete. Disappointed by Universe. RIP Hades/Sand/etc. Here's hoping your next alt has a harp.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The government is paying back the US citizens, those who turned in a tax form this year, called a Stimulus Package. Those who are single get $600, married $1200 and for each kid they a get $300 for that. Gee that pittance might pay for fuel for two months, maybe. :o

 

It's to prevent a recession, not help you.

 

True, but wouldn't it make more sense to give out some sort of voucher that works for the most recession hit industries? Rather than oil?

 

I doubt it will be spent on oil much more than people already intended to spend money on oil. Petrol is one of those necessities people don't really go without or splurge on as such.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The government is paying back the US citizens, those who turned in a tax form this year, called a Stimulus Package. Those who are single get $600, married $1200 and for each kid they a get $300 for that. Gee that pittance might pay for fuel for two months, maybe. :rolleyes:

It also phases out at high income levels. For singles, the amount starts to decrease at $75K of adjusted gross income (AGI), and disappears entirely at $87K of AGI. For married filers, the figures are $150K and $174K in combined AGI.

 

It's technically an advance on a tax credit for 2008. For payers who already filed their 2007 taxes, are due a refund, and requested that refund via direct deposit, the payments have gone out already. For payers getting it by check, though, they're sending them out on a rolling basis, based on the last 2 digits of the taxpayer's social security number.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Considering how much we pay the Feds every year, I'm not exactly jumping in anticipation over their piddly "rebate."

But I suppose, assuming we get one, it'll go into our savings account, which we're trying to rebuild up again after buying this house.

 

Altho, remodeling the kitchen sounds like a fine idea, too ... but nah, not this year. :)

“Things are as they are. Looking out into the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations.” – Alan Watts
Link to comment
Share on other sites

How much tax do you chaps pay, anyway? You don't get free healthcare, you spend one year less in school (totalling the hours according to Atlantic Monthly magazine), and you get minimal protection as consumers.

"It wasn't lies. It was just... bull****"."

             -Elwood Blues

 

tarna's dead; processing... complete. Disappointed by Universe. RIP Hades/Sand/etc. Here's hoping your next alt has a harp.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How much tax do you chaps pay, anyway? You don't get free healthcare, you spend one year less in school (totalling the hours according to Atlantic Monthly magazine), and you get minimal protection as consumers.

I can be tough to say, since lots of that stuff is funded by state and local taxes (which is usually a combination of sales tax, income tax, and property tax). Estimates I've seen put the total tax burden from all these sources on a median-income household somewhere around 35-40%.

 

As for where it goes, on the federal level, the social programs we do have are pretty expensive. Taken together, Social Security (government payments to retirees and disabled workers), Medicare (free healthcare for people over 65), and Medicaid (free healthcare for the very poor) are over 40% of the federal budget. The next biggest item is the Pentagon: defense & security spending is just under 30% of the total, which I'm sure is significantly higher than it is in pretty much every other 1st-world country.

 

Edit: Link on federal spending percentages and trends.

Edited by Enoch
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...