No Tax Rebate's Going to Fix This Mess By Dave Lindorff

Original Content at http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_dave_lin_080118_no_tax_rebate_s_goin.htm


When you hear a number like $100 billion (the amount Bush is proposing to give back to people in the form of tax rebates, at about $800 per adult family member) or $145 billion (that $100 billion, plus another $45 billion in business tax breaks—mostly accelerated deductions for capital investment) bounced around, it sounds like a lot of dough, and you might think it would be a good shot in the arm for an economy that is falling into a dead faint.

But let’s think about it on a micro level.

What would my wife and I do with an extra $1600?

Well, to be honest, that’s not quite one month’s mortgage payment.....



So how about we just forget this whole stinking rebate idea. It ain’t gonna work, folks. It might sound good in an election year, but if you look at it closely, you can see it’s really just smoke and mirrors.

There is a solution, though. How about if they end the war in Iraq and bring all the troops home. The government will save several hundred billion dollars a year that’s being spent overseas blowing things up—and that is helping to depress the dollar and raise our tax bills. Some of that saved money can help reduce the deficit. Other chunks of it could be invested in America’s badly decaying infrastructure—repairing bridges, building new schools, etc., maybe building some major levees to protect our coastal cities from the next Katrina or from the global warming flood that we know is coming. And all that will mean jobs for people who need them.

We might also try to do something about reducing that massive outflow of dollars that’s making our currency do a disappearing act. An easy way to do that would be to slap higher taxes on gasoline and to tax cars based on how bad their gas mileage is. Before long, most Americans would be driving less and buying smaller, fuel-efficient cars, and we could significantly reduce the single biggest item on our import bill: oil.

Don’t get me wrong. I’ll be happy to get that $1600 check George Bush is calling for. I’m certainly not going to return it to the Treasury! But let’s not be pretending that it’s going to jump-start the sick economy.

It might even end up making things worse.

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Dave Lindorff is a Philadelphia-based journalist and columnist. His latest book is "The Cast for Impeachment" (St. Martin's Press, 2006 and now available in paperback). His work is available at www.thiscantbehappening.net







Authors Website: http://www.thiscantbehappening.net

Authors Bio: Dave Lindorff, a columnist for Counterpunch, is author of several recent books ("This Can't Be Happening! Resisting the Disintegration of American Democracy" and "Killing Time: An Investigation into the Death Penalty Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal"). His latest book, coauthored with Barbara Olshanshky, is "The Case for Impeachment: The Legal Argument for Removing President George W. Bush from Office (St. Martin's Press, May 2006). His writing is available at http://www.thiscantbehappening.net

I see some tough times ahead and I dont need a new TV.

People are in Vegas now spending the rebate.

to go back to the 2000 election, knowing what we know now, AND PREVENTING WHAT HAPPENED!
It is my humble opinion that NOTHING that occurred during Bush's watch would have happened on a Gore watch!
Any backers on my opinion?

Welcome to DU benld74!



My Favorite Master Artist: Karen Parker GhostWoman Studios

And it would be and "Excellent" adventure.

around here spent it on fireworks for the fourth of july. Then when they filed their tax returns they found they had to subtract it from what they would have gotten as a tax refund.

As another point, I am appalled at the tax refund anticipation loans that people seem to be encouraged to get these days. Paying interest in order to get your tax refund a little earlier is obscene.

Also most of our older folks are being encouraged to apply for reverse mortgages. These are essentially a home equity loan where you pay interest on the money you receive, and since it is over a much longer term than most home equity loans, the interest must be huge. (Banks make out) You could actually end up owing more than the house is worth if the market goes down or if the house loses value as a result of lack of upkeep, which happens a lot as folks get older and less capable of keeping up the maintenance work. I think it is a trap so that banks can tap into the home owner wealth of the middle class.

Always look twice when they want to 'give' you money.