If I'm going to get 0 because they want me to start spending money, they better do it soon. Like, before my trip to Budapest in March. So that I can spend my Economic Stimulus Rebate abroad.

Last night Congress sent the much-debated bill to Bush, who indicated he'll give it his John Hancock, so taxpayers should be checking their mailboxes for that six hundred to one thousand two hundred rebate from the government in this time of Economic Hardship. Read: At this rate, I can't even take off work to go vote.

UPI Explains the package:

 

And it went through Congress surprisingly well after all: House passage by a 380-34 vote came a few hours after Senate leaders ended a drawn-out stalemate over the bill. Still, by congressional standards, lawmakers approved the legislation with exceptional speed to jolt the weak economy. The plan, which adds 8 billion to the deficit over two years, is intended to provide cash for people to spend and tax relief for businesses to make new investments - boosts for an economy battered by a housing downturn and credit crunch.

Oh wait. Am I supposed to use this to pay for my sub-prime mortgage payment?

The Senate's 81-16 vote capped more than a week of political maneuvering. The logjam broke when majority Democrats dropped their demand that rescue proposal offer jobless benefits, heating aid for the poor and tax breaks for the home building and energy industries.

Ohhh heat shmeat. I don't need it now. Last year this time my bill was nearly 00 for January's heating. This month? 9. Global Warming!

 

If they believed in it (or evolution, or science in general), they could have used that to whomp around on the Hill:

 

GOP senators blocked those ideas, but agreed to add 0 rebates for older people and disabled veterans to a 1 billion measure the House passed last week.

Bush called the bill "robust, broad-based, timely, and it will be effective." The compromise, he said in a statement after the Senate acted, was "an example of bipartisan cooperation at a time when the American people most expect it." The White House said Bush would sign the bill sometime next week.

Sadly, no refunds until May. When our houses will be gone and, at this rate, New York will have turned into a tropical paradise. That's if I make it out of a Hungarian Travelling Debtor's Prison with my tax return in hand.

 

[Source: UPI and the Associated Press]