Sources on Capitol Hill and at the Treasury Department said the plan would send checks of $600 to individuals and $1,200 to couples who paid income tax and who filed jointly.
People who did not pay federal income taxes but who had earned income of more than $3,000 would get checks of $300 per individual or $600 per couple.
A Democratic aide and Republican aide said there will be an additional amount per child, which could be in the neighborhood of $300.
Those who earn up to $75,000 individually or up to $150,000 as a couple will be eligible for the payments, said Republican and Democratic sources familiar with the tentative deal.
Maybe I'm wrong about this, but that sounds to me like people who are doing just fine are about to be doing even better. The only people who get this much-needed relief are the ones who don't need the relief. Again, I'll be the first to admit I don't know anything about how the economy works, but this seems like another Washington handout to people who are doing just fine.
Update: A commenter called me out on misreading the article, and the commenter is exactly correct. The checks will go to every individual earning "up to" $75,000," not those earning "at least" that much as I thought. This is why I shouldn't write about the economy.Of course, as my commenter pointed out, this is a stimulus plan because it puts money in the pockets of those who will spend it.
I regret the misreading, which has made the entire post incorrect.
1 comment:
It's a "handout" to everybody except those who are doing (better than) just fine. All individuals/couples who earned more than $3k last year but less than $75/150k (i.e., the lower and middle class) get the rebate. You'll note that the projected rebate dropped from 800/1600 to 600/1200 precisely because the poorest demographics (even those who paid no taxes at all) were included, and for good reason. The rich, however, are excluded not only because they don't need it (which isn't the point) but because they're less likely to spend it (which is the point).
This isn't a perfect package for the poor by any means, but the more immediate goal is stimulating the economy and this is the same type of package that more-or-less worked in 2001.
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