President Bush

[westguy]

Isn't it also incorrect to suggest that we who are getting money back, in no way contribute to what we're getting back. I pay taxes too. Just because I don't earn $75,000 a year doesn't mean I don't.

Not really. It has to exist before it can be given back.

[TJones]

Wife just informed me that I got a certified letter fromt he IRS today. Thought it might be the stimulous. Turns out to be a BILL saying that I owe, so, there goes more contribution to the stimulous. Some of you owe me a beer !

Edited May 1, 2008 by TJones

[editor]

Wife just informed me that I got a certified letter fromt he IRS today. Thought it might be the stimulous. Turns out to be a BILL saying that I owe, so, there goes more contribution to the stimulous. Some of you owe me a beer !

Wow! Bam! The feds must be hitting Houston hard these days. A TV reporter I know down there is being dragged through a big-time audit.

I got nailed three years ago because H&R Block screwed up my return. Even though Block admitted it made the mistake, it turns out that We'll-pay-your-fees "guarantee" is worthless. My claim was denied and there is no appeals process. No wonder the attorney generals in so many states have dragged H&R block to court.

[houstonmacbro]

Wow! Bam! The feds must be hitting Houston hard these days. A TV reporter I know down there is being dragged through a big-time audit.

I got nailed three years ago because H&R Block screwed up my return. Even though Block admitted it made the mistake, it turns out that We'll-pay-your-fees "guarantee" is worthless. My claim was denied and there is no appeals process. No wonder the attorney generals in so many states have dragged H&R block to court.

I personally know several people that have been audited lately. Not this year, but last year or the year before. I remember when you used to hear about audits and crackdowns, but I think the IRS is turning up the heat on just about everyone.

Oh yeah, these are regular earners, not mega earners with lots of deductions.

[20thStDad]

I got a nice letter about our 2006 taxes. Thankfully they were wrong and owe us money instead of us owing them. Or at least that was the case I sent back to them. To be determined whether they agree or not. When I got the letter I had that same feeling as when you get pulled over for speeding. Sucks.

[TJones]

I am not being audited, I just forgot to add some money I made on my taxes last year, and it caught up to me this year. I have a CPA, but this is totally my fault.

[CDeb]

I got a nice letter about our 2006 taxes. Thankfully they were wrong and owe us money instead of us owing them.

Same thing happened to us. When you get that letter with "Internal Revenue Service" you say, "Honey, where do we keep the KY?"

Imagine my surprise when there was a notice saying we were going to get a check FROM THEM.

[N Judah]

Think this thing will help fight inflation? This weekend is supposed to be a bloodbath for retailers.

[TheNiche]

Think this thing will help fight inflation?

Momentarily, sure. Prices on all goods certainly won't jump overnight so as that our buying power remains in constant equilibreum.

But in the medium-term, the fact that we're financing this directly or indirectly with foreign debt means that it does adversely affect the value of the dollar, and that does result in perceptible inflation.

[N Judah]

Momentarily, sure. Prices on all goods certainly won't jump overnight so as that our buying power remains in constant equilibreum.

But in the medium-term, the fact that we're financing this directly or indirectly with foreign debt means that it does adversely affect the value of the dollar, and that does result in perceptible inflation.

Is it just this stimulus that is being financed with foreign debt? Or could you say that about other things, like the war in Iraq?

[TheNiche]

Is it just this stimulus that is being financed with foreign debt? Or could you say that about other things, like the war in Iraq?

The same could be said about far more burdensome programs like medicare or social security.

[N Judah]

The same could be said about far more burdensome programs like medicare or social security.

Interesting angle. Thanks for the input!

Edited May 3, 2008 by N Judah

[RedScare]

The same could be said about far more burdensome programs like medicare or social security.

Actually, Social Security runs a surplus. It is the most solvent program in the US government. However, the point still aplies to general fund programs.

[TheNiche]

Actually, Social Security runs a surplus. It is the most solvent program in the US government. However, the point still aplies to general fund programs.

Nope. The key phrase was "directly or indirectly"...and once again, you've confused financial accounting for economics. Resources are finite. Those that are committed to one form of consumption cannot also be committed to another except by effectively borrowing from an external source (and even that has a "directly or indirectly" attached to it), the caveat being that at some point or another, they get paid for by way of debt service.

Whether it is the government, domestic corporations, or individual citizens paying the bill, there is still a bill due.

Edited May 3, 2008 by TheNiche

[RedScare]

Suit yourself, but the only reason Social Security funds are borrowed is to pay for general fund programs, not vice versa. No amount of pontificating will change that fact.

If it makes you feel better to lump them all together, so that you can demonize Satan's Social Security, good for you. But, SSA has its own funding mechanism, DOD does not.

Now, feel free to spend the next 30 minutes defining "indirectly". Be sure to use big words, so other posters will think you know what you are talking about.

[TheNiche]

Suit yourself, but the only reason Social Security funds are borrowed is to pay for general fund programs, not vice versa. No amount of pontificating will change that fact.

If it makes you feel better to lump them all together, so that you can demonize Satan's Social Security, good for you. But, SSA has its own funding mechanism, DOD does not.

Now, feel free to spend the next 30 minutes defining "indirectly". Be sure to use big words, so other posters will think you know what you are talking about.

You totally--completely--missed the point. There is money and there are resources. The two are not one in the same. You can't eat money, you can't live in it, you can't wear a suit of it, you can't cure a disease with it, and you can't fill up a gas tank with it. Money doesn't make people well-off...it is the claim to resources that money can (but does not always) represent that makes people well-off.

It doesn't matter per se in the big picture that government accounts operate at a deficit. It doesn't matter per se in the big picture whether the shortfalls are made up for by issuance of debt, by increased taxes, or by shifting the burden to another account for which the shortfall is made up for by debt or taxes. What matters is that if we are intent upon consuming more resources than we can produce, it becomes necessary that we sacrifice future consumption for present consumption. There are basically two ways to do this, and we've been doing both in recent history 1) issue claims for our resources in the form of U.S. Dollars to foreign countries, or 2) cannibalize from savings/investment.

IMHO, a big part of the solution is to dismantle policies (such as social security) which discourage savings/investment. That way, rather than dividing up the pie, only to find that we don't have enough slices to go around such that we have to borrow part of China's pie, we can just bake a bigger pie in the first place.

Edited May 3, 2008 by TheNiche

[N Judah]

The government usually buys up surplus from the farmers. Now, with commodity prices so high, the farmers are taking their stuff directly to market. The money previously going to the farmers is now coming back to us. We can now use this money to buy commodities.

I guess that's a possible way of looking at it.

Edited May 3, 2008 by N Judah

[TheNiche]

.

Edited May 3, 2008 by TheNiche

[N Judah]

So you have to make at least $3,000 to get a stimulus payment? Is this right? The stimulus calculator says that if you make less than 3K you get the amount of your tax refund back. However, when I use the thing that says "where is my stimulus payment?" it says I did not make enough to get a stimulus payment. I think this is dumb since people with less income are the people who would probably need the money the most.

[N Judah]

Yep! That is the case. What a bunch of bull. I was only like a hundred bucks short too. Oh well. I was just going to use it to pay student loans anyway.

Edited May 18, 2008 by Subdude

[houstonmacbro]

Yep! That is the case. What a bunch of bull. I was only like a hundred bucks short too. Oh well. I was just going to use it to pay student loans anyway.

I got the full amount and used it promptly to pay off 2 credit cards. Guess it wasn't exactly what uncle George wanted, but what the heck.

[sevfiv]

Consumer spending barely budged in April and growth in personal income slowed sharply, even though the government started sending out billions of dollars in economic stimulus payments.

The Commerce Department reported today that consumer spending edged up a small 0.2 percent in April, just half the 0.4 percent rise in March. Excluding inflation, the performance was even weaker, showing no gain in spending after excluding price changes.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5809444.html

*yawn*

Not that I went to WalMart and spent the $600 like I was supposed to, but my April spending would not have reflected the check I received in May...

[musicman]

Not that I went to WalMart and spent the $600 like I was supposed to, but my April spending would not have reflected the check I received in May...

sev those 600 lottery tickets don't help.

[Pumapayam]

I got the full amount and used it promptly to pay off 2 credit cards. Guess it wasn't exactly what uncle George wanted, but what the heck.

I am still waiting on mine, my end digits for SS fell between the 20-40 marker, and I had direct deposit. Bastards goofed up on me.

[lockmat]

I got the full amount and used it promptly to pay off 2 credit cards. Guess it wasn't exactly what uncle George wanted, but what the heck.

90% of mine went directly to someone in another country. Bet they didn't like that, either.

Edited May 30, 2008 by lockmat

[editor]

I put mine towards rent.

[Jeebus]

Straight to savings.. Sorry Bush.

[20thStDad]

I wasn't expecting one, but apparently I accounted for it being based on the wrong year's AGI, and it showed up last week. In check form, although I used direct deposit the past 5 years. Hmm. They better not want it back, it already got put toward something we had already bought.

[sarahiki]

Our car needed about $800 worth of work the week the check came. Guess how I spent it?

[westguy]

90% of mine went directly to someone in another country. Bet they didn't like that, either.

Funding terrists? Are you in it with Rachel Ray?

Started new Rachel Ray topic here