What would you do right now with $800?

Many of us, even middle class in NYC, make too much money to qualify for the check. But I would spend it on a meal at Per Se. Why not?

I would give it to Spunky and have him invest it for me.

Mel, I did not see an income cut-off for these proposed rebates. Have you?

I'd invest in one ounce of gold, and then in early 2009, when gold is about $500,000/ounce and Manhattan real estate prices have dropped to 15% of their current values, I'll buy me a two bed/2bath in 15 CPW overlooking the Park on a high floor.

I'm sure the democrats will argue for a income cut off to be able to fund some kind of welfare fund..

I think even those who DID NOT pay taxes due to low income will get the rebate!

Starfish - there are several proposals being tossed around for the tax "rebate" - at least one of them has an income cut-off which, if I recall, was about $110K for married couples. Who knows what, if anything, will get passed?

Malraux - where've you been? Working? I'm really interested to see if you have a reaction to my posts in the "pushy lawyer & broker" thread. Thanks.

bugelrex--I agree so let's leave it up to our fearless leader George Bush to get us out this mess. He's done one hell of a stellar job while in office.

When Hillary becomes president we're going to look back at 2008 as the good old days!

Amen julia! Amen!

Well, I think that instead of checks gift cards could be just the ticket. After all, our fearless leader wants the money to go to BestBuy and Old Navy, and not that pesky Citi Visa balance, or Citi heloc, or Citi overdraft protection ... or, horrors, savings.

Bugelrex, even the diehards have given up these days pointing fingers at the dems for their spending ways. The Republicans have put them to shame (although most of the money and tax breaks hasn't gone near the poor, it's true, nor the working class, nor the middle class, not even too much for the upper middle class. Oh, but the rich have truly had some good times). The money is going to the very poor to middle class because the cynical members of our government figures that these people are the least likely to be able to save the money and the most likely to spend it immediately. If you didn't pay taxes due to low income, it's fairly certain that $800 will be back in the economy in less than a month. The dems will go along with that because it doesn't sound so bad to be giving relief to the poor to middle class, and the dems' investment portfolios are tanking along with everyone else's so they want the economy out of the gutter also.

I'll never look back at 2008 as the good old days. Eight years of pure unadulterated shit. A man who has embraced stubborn stupidity as a way of life leading the most powerful country in the world? Shameful.

I thought the rebate was for low/middle class household.
I would take the rebate and back on black in AC.

"because the cynical members of our government figures that these people are the least likely to be able to save the money and the most likely to spend it immediately."

aboutready, I understand your point but the government is unfortunately right. I grew up in a lower-middle class area and I still visit family time to time. I was there over the holidays wandering around a Target, and I couldn't believe the amount of shit people were buying. It was clear to me that the majority of the people in that store could not afford the thousands of dollars of crap overflowing in their carts. I don't say this to be offensive (I’m talking about my own family in some cases), I say this because the people that can least afford to spend, spend. Unfortunately, the lower middle class consumer drives this economy because most have little to no savings discipline and they have an absolute obsession with material bullshit. To your point, it is a very good bet that the $800 will end up hanging on a living room wall or in the corner of someone’s garage. Worse, people will head into their local electronics store and use the $800 on a flat screen T.V. and charge the balance. That is exactly what the government is counting on.

I would go get dinner and a nice bottle of wine at Daniel.

aboutready, you are exactly correct. I will add that you can't fix broken fundamentals by tinkering with interest rates or getting people to blow money they don't have (or by handing them a gov't check to go out and spend). When you're economy depends mostly on almighty "consumers" spending money they shouldn't spend, you're screwed. All the fed meetings and bailouts are a temporary band aid. The folks who make out will always try to spin it their way, and unfortunately many people buy into the spin.

pardon the typo...should be "your economy".

I'd buy two pairs of Manolos and then join OriginalPoster at Dinner (of course he/she would have to treat as I would be fabulous, but broke)

I would invite forced_to_register to dinner but then I would be busy salivating over her new shoes!

Juiceman quote " I grew up in a lower-middle class area and I still visit family time to time."

Wow, you make it sound like you're such a better person since you moved out of that "lower middle class area". Where did you move too that you could feel so isolated and seperate from the rest of the human race, do you circle Manhattan on some 250 foot yacht/houseboat? How long since you left your old neighborhood did it take you to develop such a condescending attitude. When you go see old family do you just drop the snob attitude for a day? Please tell us how you just how just switch your bloated ego on or off.

Those poor folk with no impulse control who just want an HDTV. Are they really any different than the spoiled rich kid or the banker good at losing OPM (other people's money) who spends 70k+ for a new porsche, when he could be putting it away towards something else. Who really has the "obsession with material bullshit", a poor person who just wants to fill out some of the basic necessities or people like you who spend almost every dime, on overpriced condos, overrated restaurants, overbranded designer clothes just to feel like they are better than everyone else. Please spare the rest of us your hypocritical critque on the consumerism of the poor. When your stocks bounce from the 800 bucks spent by those undisciplined masses you'll be breathing a sigh of relief and go on planning the next useless 5 or 6 figure purchase for yourself.

Actually, there have been a number of analyses recently that show while the lower economic classes do overspend on material goods (particularly some cultures, often for social reasons) that overspending is not actually the majority of their economic problems. A television has become, in real dollars, much cheaper. As has most goods (go Wal-Mart and the great nation of China, rah, rah) but the costs of basics, primarily housing, health care, and fuel, has skyrocketed. I'm not sure why many of those who are so close to the edge continue to spend every discretionary cent on material possessions, but perhaps it's because they can't even envision moving forward to a better level. I come from a similar lower middle-class environment, but we never worried about becoming homeless, without food, or being denied decent medical care. Managed health care providers pay 60% more than Medicare on administrative costs, mainly in efforts to deny claims and get rid of expensive members. Now there's a lovely use of resources. We are truly messed up.

This whole mess was created when we lowered lending standards left and right, allowing people enough rope to hang themselves and their future generations. Stunning what a few years of greed accomplished. Handing out these checks is kind of like saying "let them eat cake."

Excellent analysis, AR. Bravo!

maxny, how's the Hillary campaign coming?

Missing out on the rebate will really blow.