Thursday, February 12, 2009
How much of the $789 billion stimulus package will reach your pocket?
I'm taking a timeout from 401(k) wee because the House and Senate have both agreed on a final economic stimulus bill. Since it'll probably be signed this week, here's where it looks like all that money is going to go, and how much of your tax dollars are actually coming back to help you:
Only 35 percent of the $789 billion package is going to tax cuts,
In one of my least favorite moves, Congress cut what would have been a $15,000 homebuyer tax credit almost in half, to only $8,000. This is folly, I think, because housing is at the heart of the crisis. With interest rates already low and home prices down, a $15,000 tax credit would have gone a long, long way toward getting people buying again (especially if Congress lays the smackdown on banks and forces them to actually lend all the money we gave them last year).
Another $59 billion will go to aid the unemployed.
A couple questions here: How much will a few hundred dollar tax cut do to help you weather the tough economy in 2009? Is an $8,000 tax credit a good enough incentive to get you interested in buying a house this year? (It's disappointing, in my opinion, but I'm looking at places nonetheless.)
What would you like to have seen funded that you think would help turn the economy around?
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3 comments:
I was actually disgusted to learn that dollars earmarked for school construction/reconstruction was cut from this bill. There is an obvious quality of life enhancement that counties across the nation would benefit from, and not to mention the jobs (albeit temporary) that it would create from the construction projects.
Point blank...the states are out of money and running into deficit territory mainly because of the lack of revenue they are experience with the foreclosure epidemic (no property tax revenue).
I'm pretty much disgusted that it was deemed more important to cut taxes for businesses that it is to invest in the education and well being of the generation who will inherit the "bill" for this spending/stimulus package.
I'm not disappointed by the $15,0000 getting cut to $8k. My issue is that housing prices are still unrealistically high. Sellers still want to make a profit from what they paid when they bought the house in 2007. Sorry, but that price was inflated to begin with, why do you think I would want to pay that? An $8 or $15k credit is not going to help me if the price of the house is still artificially inflated. That credit isn't enough to get me to catch a falling knife.
I already own a home so first time home buyer crap don't do nothing for me. What about something to reward people like myself that pay on time EVERY MONTH and never came close to being foreclosed on? I know, I know...why should I be "rewarded" for doing what the hell I am supposed to do and what I AGREED to do when I signed on the dotted line.
Stimulus check or a tax break is a joke...like $20 extra in my paycheck (I made up that number) is really going to make a difference.
So I could really care less about the stimulus package because it ain't stimulating nothing for me.
Can we get on to some credit card company regulation? That's the other beast that really needs to be addressed.
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