repair2000.com Blog

How It Began-
As the economy was beginning to show serious signs of deterioration last year, particularly in the housing market, President Bush promised every person who files a tax return in 2008 a check for $600. Married couples would get $1200. I felt that this was a particularly nice gesture, since my wife and I had to extend our tax payments this year and were on a monthly program of installments. We even got a letter from the US Treasury a week before the check was to be cut, assuring us that we have indeed been approved for the $1200 payment. Granted, this is by no means a windfall profit, but would certainly relieve us of a couple of bills or pay for $4/gallon gas to get to work.

What Happened Next- 

On July 5th, the due date for the check, we got a different letter from the IRS stating that they had applied our Econmic Stimulus check to our past due tax debt instead!!  How convenient for them that the President has apparently given them free reign to collect anyone’s check who owes them money, even though we entered into a written agreement with them previously to make payments on time and have done so. This was not merely a Gentleman’s Agreement, which is an honourable practice in itself, but a formal contract which was approved by them to begin with. They deliberately took this gift from our President and put it in their own bank account without having me so much as sign it. Hell, I didn’t even get to look at it, much less authorize it.

Does this sound like a fair way to treat a US taxpayer?

Why do I feel like a donkey who has been led around by a carrot?

Here’s The Rub- 

When President Bush  came on TV and made a big to-do about how this was going to stimulate the economy and that we should use the money to buy something we otherwise might not afford, I got faintly excited. For once, my government was going to do something nice for me in the form of cash. The President even said on the broadcast that everyone who filed an income tax form this year would get paid. He did not say that this was contingent on any monies owed. Since we had been making very timely payments on our taxes owed, I was excited to finally have a little extra money, even if I wanted to use some of it to pay on the tax owed. That’s the rub…I never got a choice in the matter. I never got to see my money at all. The economy was not stimulated. The only money that changed hands went from the government’s left hand into its pocket again.

 My sentiment is this…if the President had intended to provide the American taxpayers with some relief, he has failed. If he really intended to utilize this gift as a ploy to embellish the US Treasury by questionable business practices, then he is an utter success. Unfortunately, the US economy will see little or no relief at this rate.

 Thanks for nothing, Mr. Bush. Next time you want to dangle a carrot like this, at least let me see the carrot first!