You've probably gotten yours already. The white perforated envelope promising you your share of Bush's benevolent tax rebate. $300 if you're single, $600 if you're married: These notices let you know when your windfall is due and who to thank for it.
And no sooner are Bush's self-congratulatory bribes in the mail than the corporate money grubbing has begun....Hoping to cash in on the dual political dramas of tax rebate and energy crisis, Home Depot's new radio and TV ads suggest buying energy efficient products -- thermostats, home insulation and energy-saving windows -- at Home Depot superstores. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart is promising another sort of green. It's offering a free cash checking service for all rebate checks, because heavens forbid you'd have to trek all the way to the bank when you could just stop over at your neighborhood mega-conglomerate....>>
Question: Am I correct that this "tax rebate" is a one-shot deal? (i.e. that $300-$900 rebates won't be coming the way of the average joe in years to come, while increasingly high discounts on upper-income group taxes/corp taxes WILL kick in?
Personal anecdote about tax rebate announcements. It's a big topic of conversation at the hospital where I work. "Did you get your announcement yet? What are you going to do with it?"
Last week, I'm eating lunch with my colleagues, who are talking about the rebates once again. One woman asks why announcements were mailed, why didn't they just mail the check? I'm about to say "PR for George Bush, paid for by you, the taxpayer."
Luckily for me (because that kind of remark is not good for my standing in this conservative town/workplace), another colleague started talking before I could. She said that she had seen it explained on TV: it was because 1) the kindly Bush administration knew that there were many people out there who would swoop down and STEAL the rebate checks, so they wanted to give us advance warning so we could get to the mailbox before the thieves, and 2) it would cut down on inquiries from people wanting to find out how much their rebate was and when it would come.
Everyone nodded seriously, as though that explained everything, and went back to talking about what they'd do with the cash. I am considered the "dumb one" in my workgroup, by the way.
Les