Rebate, shmebate
Oh crap. George Bush’s last state of the union starts in, like, 20 minutes and I haven’t had the time today to send him my idea. As most of you know, he’s proposed that “recovery rebates” be sent out to individuals who earn less than $75,000 ($600 per person) and couples making under $150,000 ($1,200 per couple). Sweet.
I’ve been mulling over what to do with the cash—pay off my student loan, start an IRA? But G.W. wants us to all go shopping—”stimulate the economy,” as he puts it. So, to get us all out shopping, Bush should, tonight, propose a new national holiday: Shop For America Day. All of us–except for retailers, of course—get the day off work to go out and spend our rebates. Stores could have Shop For America Day sales. They could have Pre Shop For America Day sales and After Shop For America Day sales. There could be a slogans (“Have you Shopped For America Today?”), swag, even a theme song, done to Neil Diamond’s “America”: “They’re shopping for America (today!)”
Or, we could all just pay off our debts. And thank the lord that this is the shrub’s last state of the union.
I really want a flat-panel TV, but I think I’ll put my money in my IRA — just to spite the shrub-in-chief.
And…the only products that will be allowed to be sold on Shop For America Day are those that have been made in America, out of American raw materials. And…in line with the Repugs never-ending mantra, there will be no taxes on any of the sales. And only those sales clerks that make minimum wage and have no healthcare will be allowed to ring up the sales. Yaaay! What do you think we can find to buy? And where?
Everyone I talk to says they are going to pay down credit card and student loan debt. Doesn’t that make this a de facto stimulus package for the banking and credit industries? Like they need our “help.”
On Shop for America Day, i too am going to buy a shmebate.
Shop or the terrorists win.
Clearly you need to invest it overseas.
I’ll be putting my in my savings account and waiting until next tax year.
You see, I got burned on this scam the last time Georgie sent me a “rebate”. I used to the $300 check to pay down my credit card a smidge. Then, when I went to do my taxes the next spring, I had to send it right back to the government. No kidding, I was using a computer tax program that tallies your rebate/payment in the top corner of the window as you caclulate your return. One of the very last questions at the end of the programs asks me “Did you get a rebate check from George Bush this year?” Yes, $300 I enter. And BAM, my payment goes up by exactly $300. Confused, I made an appointement with an accountant (thinking the computer program was a load of shit even though I had used it successfully for the 4 previous years). Sure enough, my accountant tells me, “Yeah, it’s like a loan. It’s just a rebate, it’s not free money. It’s like you are getting your refund early, but if you have to pay taxes, you have to pay that back on top of your regular payment.”
What a crock. And now, I think this entire “stimulus package” is a buch of misleading malarky. And I’m really ticked, because although I am no economist, I just don’t see what good this does anyone. Oh, poop.