Tax rebate announcements: article, question, anecdote

[Lawrence]

I lived in a house with 4 others, ages 22 to 31. All poor college students,
or artists, people who work in restaurants and on campus computer labs. I
recently moved out. Monday I went by to pick up my mail. The announcements
from the govenrment had arrived. Me and 2 of my ex-housemates opened ours
and read them. Same result in all 3 cases - we were getting no money. The
announcements simply told us that we hadn't made enough last year to get any
kind of rebate. Even my friend Stratton, 31 years old, a great musician, who
works in a restaurant, got absolutely nothing. $300 could have bought some
nice new music equipment. It also would have more than paid his portion of
the rent.

----- Original Message -----
From: <Leslilake1 at aol.com>
To: <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 25, 2001 9:49 PM
Subject: Tax rebate announcements: article, question, anecdote


> <<George W.al-Mart and the Corporate Grab at Your Tax Rebate
> Alicia Rebensdorf, AlterNet
> July 25, 2001
>
> 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