Comments on: Income Re-Distribution Features of the 2009 Stimulus Plan

By: CJ

CJ — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 20:12:20 +0000

I don’t like tax credits and stimulus checks but having been employed and hungry before, I have a lot of respect for the fact that the people who get them aren’t usually spending them on televisions.

By: MasterPo

MasterPo — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 05:28:25 +0000

Andrea – Did he or did he not *promise* tax cuts for 95% of Americans? Did he or did he not say that “middle class” was under $250,000?

Not even 3 weeks in office and already breaking major campaign promises. That’s got to be a record.

By: Dusty

Dusty — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 04:01:53 +0000

What I don’t understand is why the tax credit gets phased out at $75,000. Why is this the line of demarcation? I distinctly remember Obama saying he would only tax the rich (defined by him – not me – as $250,000 per year). While he may not be “adding” taxes to those who make $75,000, why should they be excluded?

By: Andrea

Andrea — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 15:21:33 +0000

He’s not adding extra taxes to those who make $75,000, MP. Nice try at a spin though. Keep playing.

By: MasterPo

MasterPo — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 04:32:35 +0000

LOL!

All during the campaign when the Messiah said he was ‘only’ going to tax “the rich” of $250,000+ incomes no one cared. People said “I don’t make nearly that much so why does it bother me?”

Today, “the rich” is a mere $75,000.

I just love it!!! LOL!!!!! ))))

By: kitty

kitty — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 02:33:26 +0000

I wouldn’t have a problem with it had I believed for a second it’ll help the economy. But I just don’t see how any of the provisions do anything at all for the economy. The economy is just an excuse to spend money.

It’s not people who are earning under 75K that sign my paycheck or anybody’s paycheck for that matter. So all these tax credits aren’t going to lead to increased employment. Some of these checks may go towards paying debts – ok, this is nice, but they are talking about stimulating the economy now. Others may go toward savings – again, too small an amount to increase investment in the economy. Even if a small part of it goes toward spending it’ll at best provide a very temporary increase, much like the previous stimulus was. Really, shouldn’t they have learned from last summer that just giving out $600 checks doesn’t do a thing for the economy?

I read the republican plan on cnbc. I am not a republican – I voted against Bush twice, but I think a lot of provisions in the republican plan do help small businesses. Their plan also costs half of this one. So why with all the talk about by-partisanship, nobody in the congress even considered another plan?

By: Adam

Adam — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 01:04:23 +0000

I’m in the upper 25% income bracket.

I have no problem paying my share of taxes. I would prefer that there weren’t refundable tax credits, but even with higher taxes, I make more than the people who receive these credits. I am not struggling to survive.

I would prefer that the government used taxes to provide services of which I can partake, rather than a redistributive plan. However, I have no problem if my taxes go to support these services not only for myself, but for those less fortunate.

I have never understood the argument that high taxes are an impediment to people wanting to earn more money. If I earn an extra $100K in a year, and the government takes 50%, I still have $50,000 more than I would have otherwise.