So many people are behind in their house payments, rents, credit card bills etc. that they will in all probabillity not purchase at the stores in large proportion. This administration is so out of touch with Americans;the President was not even aware that gasoline prices were approaching $4.00. We will be better off to rid ourselves of the “let them eat bread” attitude in Washington. Well I hope the 28% of his su[pporters are happy in their wealth at the sacrifice of the rest of us.

save for us but I guess bush is HOPING that most spend

Like peeing on a wild fire.
Hope my government doesnt’ decide to continue trying to get the country in the black–by borrowing at interest to put my grandchildren in the red.

It will help, but not enough. Not with the gas prices skyrocketing as they are.
Sadly, It’s just a little too late.

hi jack
this will do anything to help but pay a bill,ask yourself what are you going to do with yours
clearwater.fl

Jack,

With a taxable income from the “Stimi-LESS” check I’m receiving in the next few weeks, I will be happy to get a Tie and a bowl of soup.

Lance
Michigan

Little. How can they help an economy stressed by rapidly rising fuel and food costs? They will be stone in a rough sea. Who can see the ripples if there are huge waves?

hi jack
none,this check will only help China,and all the oil countries,I hope to buy a couple tanks of gas with mine and a hamburger.
clearwater,fl

Jack,

While the check will help - I do not forsee a major impact. I drive 6 cylender vehicale and put about $100 or so a week on gas - that means about $400 for the month - so in actuality - my stimulus check is only $200 - take groceries out of that - i am back in debt

It will stimulate my savings account. I sense I need to save for some rainy days in the future.

Oh, I suppose there will be a little blip in the economy, but in won’t be enough to make a difference.

Boise

Not really much. I have so far gotten along with what I now get, but maybe I will splurge for a steak or lobster tail to cook in my own kitchen. I do not spend mney foolishly just because I have it in my wallet,that is why I am able to get along without this huge? checj I am about to get one of these days.

I don’t know, I’m not getting one.

If the oil companies getting 90% of our $300.00 rebate (that’s what we get because our only income is a VA pension) stimulates the economy than everything will be great by the end of July. We drive 1-1/2 hours each way to the VA hospital on average 4 times a month so that’s where the money will go.
If paying overdue winter utility bills does it, than a lot of our friends will be helping.
If they expect anything else from us, then they are in for a HUGH surprise.

The way the econony is going Jack. We need a monthly stimulus check. When I get my stimulus check. It’s only going to go to a bill that has to be paid. So basically not much difference. Once again by next year in 2009 we will have pay back what the government is loaning to us.

Jack,
The stimulus checks probably will not contribute to stimilating the economy because so many people are in debt, and will apply the stimulus payment to their debt. Additionally, the paltry $600.00 is a mere drop in the bucket. It won’t go far enough to pay down debt, and it won’t be enough for any new purchases since the price of everything is in the stratosphere.

Jack,
Given the significant rise in gasoline prices combined with the increases in the cost of food, consumers no longer have any disposable income. Any additional money received by a typical household will be offset by these increases that appear to be permanent in nature. Do to the timing of this stimulus package it appears to be a wash.

Robert
Forest, VA

I think they’ll make a small immediate impact with a slightly smaller long-term impact. If anything, consumer confidence may stop falling or even begin to go rise. As for mine, I’ll either buy furniture or be saving it for a down payment on a German automobile with an engine manufactured in Mexico…and I’m leaning toward the auto.

Too little, too late and irrelevant; no I am sorry, in fact I will be spending it on gas, so atleast it will help the struggling oil companies!

The stimulus checks will have as much effect on the economy as adding one more pebble of sand to the Sahara desert.

Jack,
I do not know about stimulating the economy, personally I must use this money to pay my mortgage. That means I can’t buy food, gas for my car or pay my past due utility bills. While the President believes that this payment to Americans will boost the economy, he has no clue that spending your money on a much desired item like a big screen HDTV is insane in that you need a house and electricity to enjoy such a purchase. Americans are hurting financially. Single households are suffering a tremendous burden when providing food for children, how do you tell a teenager we have to ration food?
This stimulus plan is too little too late. Bless those that are able to save their money.
Terry
Homewood, Illinois

Bush is such a scoundral and this is just another mess he is making for people to clean up next year but I for one need the measley $900. being an unemployed single parent that doesn’t want to become a static with a mortgage crisis though I’m already caught up in a jobless area for the last 4 months.

No. It’s an example of Washington’s meaningless actions that Obama addresses. The “stimulus” checks provide just enough for consumers to maybe meet monthly expenses. Let’s hope that Obama is elected and ends these silly and useless fixes with real solutions.

It won’t stimulate the economy for me, I’m still paying for the last recession. So I’m going to use my money to start a new business. I’m going to sell Bush Administration survival t-shirts that read, “I survived both GWB recessions”, “I survived the Katrina debacle”, “I survived the death of Habeus Corpus”, “I survived the attorney firings”, etc, you get the idea. Heck, I might even make up the money I’ve lost over the last 8 years.

The stimulus checks are like a band-aid on a massive wound. The middle class is suffering with higher taxes, and the spiraling prices for gas, food, housing, health care, education and to top it off, the loss of higher paying jobs! The stimulus package does not help the middle class–all it does is give the chain stores a slight boost.
What is needed more is tighter reins on corporate greed, better trade policies, tightening the borders, more oversight of military spending, as well as of all government spending, stimulating job growth and ending our failed foreign policies. Congress and our national leaders must forego the bickering politics and act as statesmen and stateswomen!

No I don’t believe the stimulus checks will stimulate the economy. The economy has gotten so bad that a person has to play catch-up on bills and what not instead of just going out to blow it on things you would like to help the economy. It’s going to take more than a $300-1200 check to fix the economy. East Grand Forks, MN

Big difference. The checks will help insure we get the same idiots back in congress because some people will vote their pocketbooks instead of using the democratic process to clean house in Washington.

Unfortunately, Jack, not very much. The only things most of us are going to be able to do with these checks is to “stimulate” our gas tanks & the refridgerator…MAYBE! Sorry to be such a “buzz-kill” but, I know just how far my unemployment check does NOT go! Happy spending any way, everyone!

They will help but little more han putting a banaid on a cancer.

Not much. Our economic problem is the amount of our personal and national debt and that won’t be solved with more borrowing to send out stimulus checks. When George Bush took office, our national debt was $5.7 trillion. Today, it’s $9.4 trillion. See you in the soup line, Jack.

Ed Reed
Port Aransas, TX

Why does this Administration not understand that people will SAVE extra money they receive during hard economic times? They’re NOT going to spend it on big-ticket items; they’re NOT going to spend it at a fancy restaurant; they’re NOT going to spend it traveling to exotic places. People are most likely going to pay down debt, pay their bills, or save the money in case things get worse (which is not out of the realm of possibility). THAT’S why the stimulus checks won’t make a significant difference.

London, England

Absolutely not Jack, the only way it’s gonna work is if you put it in savings. Only one of several problems with it in savings is you’ll have to wait 10, 20,maybe even thirty years on it to make you any money. Then agian if you spend you’ll probably spend it at the gas pump or places like Wal-mart and companies of a like, that vdon’t need it and then we’re to the same issue the big companies make huge qurterly earning, the middle class suffer. The only true way to fix this is get the oil people: Bush, Chaney, and most of his administration out of American peoples house. Jack write a book called :It’s getting scary out there” because that’s exactly how it is “scary”

I’m not getting one…..does saying that make me an “elitist”?

I think it will help significantly the way I intend to spend it, on a MADE IN AMERICA 24-speed racing bike purchased from an independent dealer. Sadly, most people will spend it on stuff made in China, who, I believe lent us this money in the first place. If everyone in this country puts that money toward a bike, the gas crisis would end, the obesity crises would end and the economy would do better. Start small, if you are just going to return a DVD to Blockbuster, take your bike. If you are going to the store for just one thing, take your bike. Only good things will happen. There are no negative effects.

Seems to me that, by providing these “stimulus checks” at a time of record-high oil and fuel prices, this administration is only insuring that the funds (allegedly) intended to stimlate our economy will instead line the pockets of their “Big Oil” patrons…

It would be more helpful if the government used that money to fund an agency to prevent price fixing. Giving us more cash in the face of inflated prices is like pouring gas on the fire.

Jack,
We will use the money to pay off bills unless we have to buy gasoline or food with it. We won’t be “blow’in it” on extras! MS from SC

No, it will not. It’s like throwing a life raft to someone who’s drowning under 50 feet of water and can’t reach the surface.

I think you better analyze the so called Stimulus package. No where did I hear that the stimulus rebate is limited to your tax liability for the year. I contacted the IRS after a deposit amount less than $1200 was made to my account. I was told that the even though I had filed a joint return I did not qualify for the $1200 because my tax liability was less than that and my stimulus rebate was limited to the amount of my tax liabliliy. All media reports reported that if you filed jointly and and met the income guidelines you qualified for $600 per taxpayer. Apparently not true. My concern is for the taxpayers that were told even though they didn’t need to file a tax return, they should for this year to be eligible for the stimulus rebate. Probably some of those taxpayers paid a preparer to file a return for them. So now are they going to find out they’re not only out the cost of the return, they also don’t qualify for a stimulus rebate? For the first time I’m truly pessimistic about our Congress and Administration in D.C.

None! This money would have been much better spent on public works projects to put people back to work. All these checks will mean is a one-time payment to people and it will be gone. Then what does bush do? Remember,give a man a fish and he eats for that one day,teach a man to fish and he eats forever.

Sure, how could a $150 billion injection not help? But it strikes me as the equivalent of ’soma’ from Huxley’s ‘Brave New World. In the last eight years, we’ve more than doubled our national debt, and we have a long list of fundamental problems that this administration has either caused, exacerbated, or failed to address. Like any other drug, this stimulus will wear off, and then what will they do … give us each another $600 pill … while the root causes of our pain remain untreated?

No, it’s false hope. If anyone has any sense, they would put the check into savings and continue life. How are we going to stimulate the economy by giving out money we don’t have?
We need jobs, dammit! If the president wants to help the economy, he would start up some more projects like we had in the 20’s & 30’s. We spend so much time thinking we’re so great, we neglect ourselves to the point of rendering ourselves useless. The majority of the nation now sits behind a desk doing paperwork.

The stimulus will be minimal for the amounts that we will be receiving. Sure, President Bush urged us to spend it as soon as we get the check. What you can do with the money is really limited. Soaring gas/food prices aren’t helping. This is not a long-term solution in my eyes. I’m just one out of many skeptical citizen who think the impact of the stimulus checks would not be big (statistically). Everyone is watching careful on what they’re spending on, what the prices are, etc. Enjoy the check!

Yet a little more magic, smoke and mirrors from the Oval Office. How did America elect George W. Bush to two terms in the Oval Office. This is the medicine show all over again. Some how I think this entire situation would be a great Pogo cartoon.

It will be negligible. The problems with our economy can only be fixed with long-term solutions. A ’shot in the arm’ might work for a little while, but in the end will leave us worse off than before. After all, that $110 billion had to come from somewhere, and that means $110 billion less for things like education, transportation, defense, health care, etc.

Jack
I dont see this helping at all, we will look through the pile of unpaid bills sitting on the kitchen table and pay the ones that are most important and maybe top off the gas tank. Were playing catch up.Were not going out to spend to help the economy.

No. I’m using the money our government borrowed from China to purchase cheap junk from China and to further enrich the Suadis whose oil costs too much.

Nothing. This just another rip off by this Administration, We borrow the money and let future generations pay it back, is this insane or what. We, through this Administration, have saddled future generations beyond what they can pay. Everything this Administration does is insane, as is the Administration.
Wew
need another Clinton to clean up the Bush mess.

Hillary in 08

I plan on buying 4 barrels of oil with my check.
Why, within a year, I’ll be rich!!!!!!!!!

Simulation? Try some agitation. I suppose the money will help for about 33 minutes. Long enough to put gas in our tanks five times.

EL PASO, TEXAS

No way! It took President Bush 7 years to get the economy to this point. We won’t be able to fix it with a quick rebate. It will most likely be a couple years before we get back on the right track again.

No, I think we are in for a prolonged fight with a sagging economy. I think the elections will help with people’s outlook somewhat, and maybe offer a short term spike in shopper’s confidence. But we have to get gas prices back to the two dollar range to make any difference in people’s spending. The only way to do that is get out of Iraq. Prices began to rise when we went in, and they’ll level back off after we are out.

Obama is now trying to make Wright the heavy taking the outragous remarks from him(Obama) to Wright, eventhough, for 20 years he has been associating with him. Wright is not ..not..like the typical Black minister like Obama said..not in the least.

It will about as much as the idea to give the tax holiday for gasoline. It will be a short term fix at best. The long term fixes are painful and going to require all of us to change the way we live. Of course this will not happen until we suffer some more losses and especially those on Wall Street.

If we all donate the stimulus checks toward Senator Obama’s election, it will make all the difference in the world. The money that now goes to the Swiss bank accounts of corrupt Iraqi government members will instead be spent on American needs.

it WILL help, Jack, really, really help all those talking heads in D.C. feel better about the fact that they have allowed the oil companies and Bush to wring the middle class and the poor folks dry. They can say they worked together to defend us, even if it doesn’t actually help us that much.

No it will not Jack because the American people have bill they need to take care of and food cost and rising gas cost this is just a check to pay down some bill that is it Jack nothing extra BILLs and that include gas, food

Easy. He’s already compared himself to JFK and MLK. I think he should try comparing himself to Einstein, Da Vinci, and Geroge Washington in the next speech he gives. He has taken pandering to a whole new level and American voters have bought it. Why change now? Democracy has never looked so shallow and meaningless as it does right now.

My houshold is due to receive a $1,500 ‘rebate’. Like an increasing number of American families, only one of us works full time and our house - which was purchased to assure a secure home for our challenged child - is in jeopardy. Jack, ours is already gone and we haven’t even received it yet…

The only part of the economy this will be good for is the banking and financial sector, who have already begged for and received too many multi-billion dollar bail-outs courtesy of the US Taxpayer.

With news today that foreclosures are up over twice what they were for the same reported quarter last year, and the Bush administration trickling out 800,000 rebates a day - which works out to approximately .58% of reported 2008 individual taxpayers - I doubt people will be swamping the ailses of their local Wal-Mart anytime soon, although I wouldn’t be surprised if Aldi showed a sudden spike in profit.

The only thing this stimulus package will relieve is my stress level, for about a week until the next mortgage payment comes due.

Jim - Lake In The Hills, IL

Our economy? I thought it was the Saudi, Chinese and off-shore multi-nationals economy. We are just the poor schmuks that support them.
Fallen Timbers, Ohio

Jack, in a word, No! The high price of oil and Gas is driving inflation and the recession. We have just begun to see the trouble. Lay offs and stores closing and unemployment. The rebate will only go to debt and gas! It does not address the over lying problem with our economy and OIL!
The stock market is a joke, oil priced on speculation????? We’re broke because we want to be!!
Bush has created this mess and crippled the US with Debt! This is exactly why McCain can’t win this election and Obama hasn’t the experience or even a clue what to do. And I even think Hillary can’t get us out of this! We’re going to hurt as a nation. Crime is already going up and will continue. That abomination standing in a place it should not be was BUSH!

Jack,
It will help, but at a discounted rate of 25 cents on the dollar. The other 75 cents will go to paying credit card bills, and filling the gas tank. The economy would be better off if we could figure out how to knock $1 off the price of a gallon of gas.

stimulus checks will make no difference regarding the economy. it is the governments way of buying an “i’m sorry for screwing up your lives”
notion with the public. personally, i think it is just another republican ploy they will try to use come election time. they screwed up this country and they think they can buy it back.

Hi Jack,

As an unemployed casualty of this economy, there’s no question the extra money will help. However, I have no faith in our government or the “Governor from Texas” (I refuse to call him my President) to fix what got us here in the first place. I got my economic “stimulus” when I lost my job.

Erik
Grand Rapids, Michigan

Yes, the stimulus check made it possible for me to make a sizable contribution to the Barack Obama Campaign in the mane of George Bush. Give My personal thanks to President Bush Please. I can also buy dinner for the Campaign workers I am working with tonight.

Like everything else set forth by this administration, this is a short-term solution. All it will do is off-set the rising costs of everyday needs, like food and mortgage payments, for a month, maybe two at the most. And then we’ll all be back here again, with very little money in our pockets and very high bills. $600 does not buy a whole lot these days.

The greater portion of President Bush’s stimulus checks will benefit oil companies, credit card companies and China. The smaller portion of those checks will benefit U.S. retailers and to a lesser degree the consumers themselves who paid their taxes to stimulate their economy.

The stimulus checks will do as much good as one corn flake would do to fill you up.

Well Jack , I am going to save my money to get gas to go to work….For if i can’t buy gas i can’t work ………

The economic stimulus checks are a band aid on a hemorrhaging victim. George Bush and his GOP congress have messed this economy up so badly it’s going to take years if not decades to set it right. In the mean time, ordinary Americans will feel the pain of this “new depression”.

No. Each and every credit card company currently operating will raise their rates to default rates for no other reason than they can. Early ion the Bush terms, their regulations were stripped away when special interests and lobbyists paid off and bribed the representatives to dump regulations. Any perceived strength from the package and create an even further hardship on already struggling Americans. This is due to the belief that free enterprise without regulation is necessary to a democracy. The real word for that is monopoly It is a great mistake to put bankers and lawyers together with no rules, to forge a contract that comes out as being fair to their customers, instead of personal enrichment of the Board of Direstors. The same conditions exist for Mortgage bankers, oil companies, Pharmaceutical companies, Insurance companies,

Hillary likes it this way.
Sen Obama wants to change it.

And that’s what this campaign is all about, it has nothing to do with rebates.

The stimulus checks aren’t going to do Jack, Jack.

The only way they will stimulate the economy is if everyone uses them to pay down their credit cards. Then, once the credit cards are paid down, we can all go out and max out our credit cards again, thereby stimulating the economy.

I’ll be using my stimulus check to buy gas for a month. That’ll stimulate Exxon!

Jack, The average credit card in this country has $9,000 on it. Over 100 million in this country has $20,000 on credit cards. I do not believe that the stimulus checks will go toward this debt. I beleive it will go to fast food restaurants and drive up quick shops to by the things we do not really need.

Anyone who can actually afford to spend the check and not pay off existing debt will be stimulating the Chinese economy or subsidizing big oil. It’s a lose lose situation. We need a long term solution to this mess and that includes renegotiating trade agreements, closing tax loopholes for companies that outsource jobs and giving a few long overdue breaks to the middle and lower classes.

No, but it will be add more to the deficit for the next president, God help him or her. JS North Carolina

None. What would help our economy is to bring home the troops and quit pouring money down the Iraqi rat hole. That is what it will take to boost our economy.

I am sure our grandchildren will appreciate it more when they get the bill for it in the future

I think the stimulus payments will help some people keep their homes and allow many to come up for breath. But I don’t think that in the long run it will make much difference on the economy, especially if they are just printing money and causing inflation and the weakening of the dollar. When I think of the stimulus deposit coming, I get a little gleeful, but with guilt and yes, yes…let them eat cake. But thank you, it’s quite yummy.

What about putting money where you can stimulate jobs, like rebuidling our infrastructure, instead, where it will have a longer lasting postive effect. And who’s economy will we be stimulating, anyway?

How nice of the government to borrow money from China to pretend they are helping me out as they further devalue the dollar. Making the money I do earn worth even less.

Jack, with the economy in shambles the wise thing to do is either pay down debt or save the money for a rainy day. I’m sure their are people though that will buy luxuries and put them in their house in which they are behind on the mortgage payment. That’s what Washington loves about us. This band-aid is not going to heal a deep wound.

Kevin
Warren, MI

Jack, so many have a pessismistic view of the economy and with the increase of prices for food fuel, etc., as well as other economic woes such as the growing number of foreclosures as well as the sending of jobs overseas, they may choose to save the money they receive for these payments, rather than to pour it into the market as is the hope of the Bush Administration.

For about 10 minutes, that’s how long those rebate checks will last in our current mess. Hey Washington, how about addressing the cause of our economic problems now?

Even if the checks were $10,000, they would do little to stimulate the economy. We are applying out pittance check to our credit cards. Retail stores will not see a penny of it. The only stimulation I see coming from these checks is a wave of voters who feel it is too little, too late.

Jack this stimulus money isn’t gonna change a thing as far as the economy is concerned. Gas and food prices have worsened drastically since this package was passed. Congress and the president would have to approve about three more such packages before I could run out and buy that big screen tv they want me to buy

Jack,

This money would have stimulated the economy more if it was used to bring home troops so that the Congress and the DOD can stop dumping billions into Iraq. Borrowing money from China is bad in the short term and near suicidal in the long term. Someone needs to take charge who does not have their head where the sun won’t shine.

Zero to none. If Americans go on a spending spree I’ll flash the mailman. With the debt incredible price increases the American people are facing, namely Credit Card, Gasoline, Food and Home mortgage spending or saving are out of the equation. Nice try congress but this ‘shot in the arm’ isn’t going to heal or prevent anything. How about something more substantial like oil company profit regulation or home owner assistance, NOW. Is this asking too much?

In a Word. NO! Too much Sand and Water…

Jack, What we talking about? that’s how much of a difference.

Will the stimulus check help me? humm… lets see…Is this what the Rebulicans call call “trickle down to the working class.” How much will it cost me later? or my kids or their children. Humm… It my pay 20% of my dental bill. For which I have no insurance. Humm… Thats a hard question to answer, Jack. I pray it will help many. Would it pay a months rent, fuel bill, electric, food etc. Humm…

Edith Carol
Oregon

Sure it will help - China’s economy.
Lucie
Las Vegas, NV

Jack:

Many of the retailers are trying to lure our stimulus from us. Some may be a great idea others not so good. I know one grocery chain is offering 10% if you purchase a $300 gift card. Others state you must put all of the stimulus into a gift card to receive the deal.

I encourage all to save a little and maybe spend just a little. If everybody does that than maybe the economy will be in better shape. I think the idea that the dems have for another stimulus is great and I hope it passes.

Of course it will help…but it won’t change the circumstances that made a simulus necessary. Until the oil prices get tamed or capped we’ll be in the same boat again come November. We have GOT to solve this problem or we’ll be in a depression rather than a recession.

Im going to buy a gun so i can defend myself against this corrupt Govt.

I’m holding my check now and I’m still laughing!

With Clinton pandering to the economic hardships facing Americans, why am I not surprised in discovering she filed for $2.3 BILLION in earmarks for her state for 2009. That’s almost three times the largest amount received by a single senator this year. Is it any wonder the Republicans are elated with her current streak of success in the Dem primaries!

I pay my taxes. It’s not my fault the gov’t doesn’t use it wisely. I vote for the people I think will, but we all know how 2000 & 2004 turned out! I have to save at least 10k so I’ll add stimulus check when I get, If I get one, so that I can spend most time in Europe going to Queen concerts and then if Mr. Obama gets nomination, I’ll have to come back vote for him and then go back. If he’s not nominee, I probably won’t bother!!

I will use this check to buy tissue to wipe up the crap they are feeding us about boosting the economy.. I’m thankful, but people are so far in debt.

Nashville, TN

Very little to none. It’s not enough. People will use the $ to pay down debts or will stick it somewhere safe for a future crisis.

No it won’t, the only ones getting stimulated are the oil companies. We are just going to turn around and give it to them I know they are happy. The Oil companies continue to get richer.

anything helps,jack.we’re getting hungry.

Since we are borrowing the money from China and giving it to the Saudi’s shouldn’t you be asking what difference it will make for their economy? The obvious answer is that it will put us further in debt. The National Debt has continued to increase an average of
$1.44 billion per day since September 29, 2006! The estimated population of the United States is 303,898,476 so each citizen’s share of this debt is $30,735.81. Now that would be a stimulus package I would like to get (back!)

No. They might just keep it afloat for half a day.

Im going to keep the money in my community…ya Im going to buy crack and give it a prostitute! Thats the best trickle down policy ever!

Dear Ranger Jack,

This artful handout serves only the political process and leaves the economic downturn more apparent. Unfortuately, most of the present Bush administration has served big interests primarily, and the small interests of the American working group secondarily, if at all. And the devisive parties in Congress serve only to besmirch the opposing party. Wise political leadership is lacking in America.

As to how I will spend my rebates: the economic prognostications are bleak–I will save what I can for $5.00 gasoline and $4.00 loaves of bread!

Is there a Franklin Roosevelt hiding under the skin of any present Presidential candidate–I fear not. Bold and persuasive Presidential action is essential if we are ever to look seriously at going green, sustaining our environment for our children, and escaping the squeeze of foreign oil and big oil companies. Clearly, President Bush has neither been “bold” nor “persuasive” in setting forth the best interests of this Nation. We will be repairing the mistakes of this Administration for many years to come.

Steve
Torrance, CA

How about sending the money Back to China and ask them to use it to pay down the US debt?
Alice
Oregon

As much as just a needle dent on a car. GW & the congress are just trying to fool people to cover up their mistakes made towards the economy. Are people stupid? Not me. Can’t speak for others.
CA

If I use MY math, the $600 won’t amount to a spit in the ocean… But the new math that they use in Washington, DC will make the bar-charts look like a total fix of our economy..

All politicians are so out of touch with the REAL world, along with the top 28% of taxpayers that are paying 75% of the total taxes…

Bye, bye middle-class.

won’t spend it until we get a new president sitting behind the big desk! if its McCain— I’ll make it a cd won’t spend it. j. in florida

Well, I’m sure China will see some benefit when the battlecry: “Attention Wal-Mart Shoppers” rings out once again!
This is more of the “old Washington” Obama speaks of so often. Its not that the Administration actuall DOES anything that actually matters. Its that the Asministration can SAY it did something and then back it up with a bunch of totally “cooked” statistics to show how successfull the action taken was.
Even if the whole population, at a pre-agreed upon time, shouted “LIAR”, Bush and Co wouldn’t hear it anymore than they hear anything else we shout these days.
Its time for real change folks…..Obama ‘08!

What stimulus package.This is China’s money that Bush had too borrow because the idiot has bankrupted this country.Will will be paying for these mistakes for a long time.I jsut want to thank the federal judges that appointed this idiot and also the fools that voted for this %*#………

Not as much impact as the President would like for it to. The impact on the economy would get a lot larger boost if he would put windfall taxes on the oil companies, and get rid of the tax exemption for rich folks.

It may help a little bit but not enough to stimulate it to the extent of what Bush wants it to. It’s too little, too late.

The goverment is only giving your money back to you. The way they are spending they will get it back double in taxes.

None. They are a diversion from the real problem: The decline in the dollar worldwide. The dollar has effectively fallen 20%. Oil is not up, rather, the dollar is down. The massive war debt is the cause and borrowing more for the rebates will make the dollar even weaker.

B Nolan Waters
Los Angeles, California

Jack:
I think it would be irresponsible for anyone that has some “legitimate” outstanding bills to spend this money in “the mall”. Instead of a shot in the arm, what this econonmy needs is some real help from the goverment. Gasoline is outrageous, eventhough it hadn’t really gone up in the last decade, making that difference up in a few months is just insane. My stimulus check is going straight to where it needs to go…..under the mattress for a rainy day….and if you look out the window my friend, is getting really cloudy.

Miami
Florida

Instead of sending everyone these checks, the money should have been put toward the country’s deficit. And, don’t even ask me about the millions the government spent to let everyone know the checks were coming. The letters were not necessary — you would have had to be living under a rock not to have heard about the checks!

The stimulus check hopefully will help the American people. It does not solve the critical issues that are facing this country. It does not stop the ridiculous rising of crude oil that is putting a burden on all drivers that depend on gas to run their vehicles. But, having something is better than nothing and we need to believe that the new Presidential candidate will make a start in “steering America in a more positive direction.

I think most will just use it for gas to go to work. Being retired and not owning a car for years, that $600.00 will go into savings to buy me my $10.00 a month senior bus passes for the next five years. I hope I last that long. If not it will help bury me.

What economy? I thought the term meant careful control of wealth. With the country so deeply in debt, so many people deeply in debt, the airlines deeply in debt, fuel prices going through the roof, people being made homeless, world food prices sky high, being entrenched in an ‘endless’ war, the media more concerned about Jeremiah Wright, is it likely that a few hundred dollars per household will be noticed? I doubt the ripple would spread across a six foot pond let alone across the country.

We are americans, of course we will spend the money! I think a small portion of the recipients will save or put it towards debt, but the majority will spend the money in some fashion. I think most will spend it on travel and summer vacations. Either way, this will not affect the economy because housing is still a huge problem and high oil prices/inflation are a larger problem than anyone credits.

Jack,

No, they will not. Since the decision was made to provide this stimulus package, the economy has taken a much greater nose dive. Just the cost of gas having gone up well over a dollar compared to last year and basic staples for living has in some cases doubled.
The impact of these checks will be minimal if anything as they will be used primarily to keep familes and individuals afloat.

The answer to the economic mess is so simple….GET THE HELL OUT OF IRAQ!!!! And until we do, and we start spending the money on the USA, and not another failed puppet government. Well the hand writing is on the wall.

The stimulous will do very little to help the economy. With surging health, gas and even food costs, consumers will need the money for current and future essentials. There will be little frivolous spending any time soon.

If paying up my bills stimulates the economy, then so be it! I plan to pay current my existing debt so that the endless calls from these companies leaves me alone for at least 30 days!

If you can call increasing our national debt to pay for a laughable hand-out a stimulus package, then my guess is it will have an impact equal to the smallest ripple, from the smallest raindrop falling into the largest ocean. Bush wasn’t even aware that gas was going to $4 a gallon, so how can he possibly have the audacity to think he knows anything about what the American public really needs.

no it will go for gas and food and to pay bills….this economy is heading into a depression

It depends who is your audience if it is the United States not much of a difference, but if it is China it will make a big difference in economic growth.

Other than a few smiles for the summer season…. none. That old adage of shop til you drop, is being replaced by prices at the pump and at the grocery check out line, that make your jaw drop.

When the summer is over, jaw dropping will become quite the new fad, as college tuition and heating are added to the list of woes. About the only thing that will be dropping faster than jaws, will be the price of houses and the auctioneer’s gavel.

Harry
Ky.

I thought stimulation was meant to spur people into action. The only thing this so-called stimulus package is going to do is help thousands of Americans beat back the bill collectors for a few more days. We’re going to stagnate exactly where we are. Instead of hemorrhaging more money into useless pursuits like this one, the government should have looked to providing better social safety-nets and public works programs for those about to capitulate to their astronomical debt and soaring gas and food prices.

I’m using mine to make a student loan payment…

My stimulus check is going to my bankruptcy lawyer. If that is going to stimulate more power to them.

This isn’t an economic stimulus rebate, this is a “let’s keep the two party system in place” bribe. The pols neede to keep lining their pockets while they sell our country down the drain to China and corporate America. Btw, we’re using our rebate to payoff an RV we can’t afford to use this year because of the price of gas. Does that say anything?????

Just another, pinky toe band aid solution!

The stimulus check will make little difference to the economy or me, I won’t give that money to the oil companies, the credit card companies or foreign producers of cheap junk.

I plan to put the money back where the pandering politicians got it, from my one year old grandson’s savings account.

Let’s see. If I make $15,000 a year in salary, this $600 stimulus check offsets “exactly” the 4% inflation over the last year. I’m no better off than I was… hmmm Now if I could get the Fed to back ME for $29B, now THAT would be a stimulus. Let’s forget about CORE inflation and worry more about what is really coming out of our pockets!

Your bread crumbs analogy is spot on, Jack. How arrogant is our very own Government to think that in a time of financial crisis, they have a right to give us money and tell us to throw it away on useless commercial goods instead of putting that money into an account or pay off the debts that will truly and honestly alleviate the aches of the middle class?

The check is helping me get out of debt. As soon as i see the check in my account i will be making a payment.

I think I’ll just put it in my savings account and get that 1% interest
going. Then maybe I can help by giving it to the future George
W. Bush Library. Can’t believe I just said that.

Jerry
Roselle, Illinois

Jack,
I don’t think the stimulus check will do very much, maybe it will buy an extra tank of gas, maybe some extra groceries. Nothing like King Bush thinks it will do. In my opion this idiot of a president is trying to ease the ill feeling and hatred that everyone has for him, to late Jack, that ship has long sailed away. Remember that this is just another loan from Communist Red China, but i would sooner take the money than see it wasted in Iraq. Bring our brave soilders home King Bush!
Carl in Illinois

The level of income inequality in this country is worse than any other nation in the world. Seeing the big corporation lick their chops to rake in all the dough is a great way to let them get that much richer. Thanks to George W. we know that they have great loopholes to keep more of out money than any other time in our history. This will NOT help our economy. It’s like putting ice on a broken arm. We the American people desperately seek reform and this is not the solution.

Cosidering that the real buying power of the checks is really about half of the face value, I don’t think it will stimulate our economy much. Those who don’t need to spend the check on existing bills will probably buy goods made in China or India or etc. China will benefit two fold since we will in effect be buying goods with money borrowed from them. Sounds like the old “company store” my dad used to talk about. Maybe our president really meant to stimulate the Chinese economy, in that case he’s doing a great job.

sure Jack. the Chinese economy.

isn’t going to do very much here except increase the already high inflation rate and drive the US dollar even lower. as long as the Fed keeps running the money printing press to pay for the Bush administrations fiscal irresponsability, the United States will continue on a course toward economic disaster.

My stimulus package will be eaten up by the taxes i owe and sent to Iraq, where it will benefit some poor oil company.

These checks won’t stimulate the economy. They’ll just buy us a little time - maybe about 30 days - before we slip into a full recession.

If this administration knew anything about basic communication, it would have called the checks “bonuses”, not “rebates”, in order to encourage spending. “Rebate” implies it’s money owed to us, and it’s been proven that people are less likely to spend returned income than they are a windfall.

Boise, Idaho

Mr. President, please understand, it really is that bad
It won’t just go away, it’s just beginning

The ballots have been cast, we make like seaward rats
Leave this sinking ship, leave and not look back.

The things we never tried to disallow
Have come back to haunt us now
With apple pie and chevrolet
We’ve come to see the end, we’ve all made this bed
Now we got nowhere to lay, dies and gentlemen
Try to understand

Reeko - NOFX

Says it all.

Good day.

Sure it will. But not the economy of the United States. It would stimulate the economies of China and Middle East. People will use it to buy cheap imports from China to save money and then spend it on Gas which we import mainly from Middle East. By the way, big Oil companies also would get a good share of it. So at the end, it will add more deficit to the United States. Bottom line is that fundementals of Global economy and trade have changed and this is not the right approach to stimulate the economy. But it will help a lot of people short term.

Nuwan from Houston, TX

Jack
We have a great opportunity to help our economy with this stimulus. Just donate it to Barack Obama and we’ll be on the way.
Del

I watched Bush blame the congress for all America’s trouble but he didn’t say the only thing congress failed to do that would have made a different in the economy and all the other ailments is stop the war. The rebates is like an energy drink a quick boost then a steep crash.

They money from the stimulus checks will go right back into the pockets of the gas and credit card companies. So in that sense, they’ll stimulate spending, but to the benefit of a few protected industries.

Every good textbook in Economics will tell you it’s the expectation that the money for the stimulus checks has to come from somewhere, not the reality that you got a bit of money that won’t be enough to refinance your credit card debt, matters the most in the change in the entire economy as a whole. as a result, most people are not going to spend the money because it either will end up in your future tax bill or the interest payments on the things you already bought. Later is better than never for those presidential candidates, to take a course in Economics and .perhaps a reality check to realize that they may want to fix the structural deficit the government is having for generations before they can find a solution for other problems America is facing.

Francis
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The stimulus checks are a joke and will just add to the U.S. deficit. The entire problem lies with the Bush regime that has acted so irresponsibly internationally and didn’t even care domestically. It is really sad to see a thriving economy (both U.S. and globally) fall into a recession for no reason other than because we have an idiot for a president. Whoever said one person could not make a difference!

No, Jack, it won’t. The economy is deader then a doornail and Bush needs to quit lying about it. I am old Jack and my husband is still alive, I live on a pension and I can’t stimulate him anymore than these few dollars will stimulate this liveless econmny.

I’m going to take my check Jack, pump it into my car and send the money back to the oil companies work belongs.

I wonder what 600 dollars can really do? It helps to get people 600 dollars out of debt but when you are 10, 20 or 30 thousand in debt this is a drop it the bucket. The saddest part is that the one benefit from this credit/sub-prime market crisis is that American’s (like myself) now understand that they can not live life in massive debt from person to person, and are trying to get back into the black. Let hope that the guys running the country understand this also and start erasing this 10 Trillion dollar debt. That is the greatest economic “stimulus” this country could ever receive.

It will not help. I have to make a decision on feeding my kids or paying by bills.

If current trends continue, Americans will most likely wind up saving their Economic Stimulus checks or use it to pay down existing debt. The effect on the economy will be minimal at best.

Thanks to soaring food and gas prices Americans can’t afford to fritter away their income on luxury purchases and retail shopping sprees.

jack
I don/t know the answer to this question,

Jack, the cheaps gas out here is $3.69 a gallon any extra money goes to the tank, to the oil companys, and so on..

It will not help. Most of us will just pay on debts we already have or put it in the gas tank to get to work. This administration and legislature just doesn’t get it. They are definitely out of touch with the “real” people.

NO

The government should box up all the checks and send them to China. This would be more efficient since they are going to get there sooner or later anyway.

Today the president ‘called out’ congress on neglecting to pass previous bills in order to stimulate the economy and prevent many of the issues that we are facing today. It’s hard to believe that many of our elected officials really feel prices at the pump or rising food prices. Some of the staple food items, bread, milk, rice/grain, make up less than a percent or less of the CPI. And last time I checked their salary’s are much higher than that of America’a average.

Hi Jack!

To answer your question, the stimulous checks will not have any effect on the economy because it is too little too late. Have you ever heard of so many people upset to receive a check for $300-$1200. It’s because everyone knows that this economy has very large issues with the housing/ foreclosure crisis and inflation/fuel prices and a few hundred dollars in the hands of americans is throwing a pebble in the wrong pond..

Jack, If every American family was given say $20,000. it would help.
What we are getting is pocket change and won’t make any difference.

Jack,
The money is a very short term help that mostly aids China, the Banks and the the Oil Co. and Friends. But we do get to pay our bills I will give them that. I do not understand why the media has not bothered to publicize the whole bill that was passed. Since the checks are only a portion of the bill passed. It is nothing but a smokescreen to blind us to what they gave the rich in the very same bill… Above giving us money to spend on them. Instead the media spits out the propaganda given to them by the government. But does not bother to ask any question not pre approved by the propaganda makers or do any research for them selves, or Point out obvious negatives. Why are we supposed to be rejoicing in the streets about this… They gave us a small portion of our money back… to blind / buy us off. Of which we will ultimately end up paying back in the end plus shipping and handling.

It is sad too say but… too little too late. I have always bought American made cars trying to keep the money here, but now I am so backwards on them that I cant even trade them in or sale them for what I owe. I spend on average $600 a month on gas now, so yeah I think that is where most of it will go. I was unable to get my son or daughter a birthday present this year due to all the rising prices so I will pick them each up something small. I have four kids at home so between the food bils and gas bills and the cost of electricity I dont see the money lasting more than a month.

I think they will help some, but in the grand scheme of things it’s just going to be money in and money right back out. That’s life when you’re broke.

I think Bill Clinton was wrongheaded in saying to Americans “Don’t you dare pay down your debt or save it”, but to “Go out there and blow it”. Although the theory is sound, the fact is that most people in this country live paycheck to paycheck and can’t afford to do nearly anything as is. People are going to make ends meet no matter what the public’s “ex-friend” Bill C. says.

None for a long haul trucker it will not even pay for one tank of fuel.

I recommend everyone put it into their emergency fund.. they are going to need it…

Do you think if everyone used it to payoff debt, that the gov’t would maybe get a message and start doing it themselves? They want us to live by the same philosophy they do: spend now and throw your future away lol!

I believe it will help very much. This is a consumer based economy and people will spend it. Most people do have jobs and this will be a nice little bonus(even if it is our own money). We live on a budget and spend within our means. We save up and make purchases with cash(or pay off credit card each month) when we desire something.
We will spend ours on a short vacation over Memorial Day.

Lexington, KY

Currently, the struggling economy is making it difficult for Americans to provide for their families, but people still need things. I agree that the stimulus check will likely have a minimal effect on the economy as a whole. But I know that seeing that check in the bank will ease some of my worries. The amount isn’t a lot, true, but many Americans are nearly up to their ears in credit card debt and in need of essentials that they have been putting off for a long time. This check should help relieve some credit card debt, at least enough to get the creditors to stop calling for a while, and who knows, maybe they will stop calling long enough for people to catch up on payments. Maybe those retailers that are banking on the stimulus checks will hire new employees, or at least not downsize anymore resulting in a deeper slowdown of the economy. Possibly, the mom and pop stores that are hanging on by a thread will receive a few of the stimulus customers and be able to make it through a generally difficult summer season. Possibly the checks will go towards a late mortgage payment, keeping foreclosure at bay, if only for another month, maybe long enough to find a job, or even a second at one of the eager retailers. Personally, I am going to do what the government doesn’t want me to do initially; save the money for a rainy day, in case the market slows down further. Even if we were not getting the stimulus checks I would have the need to sa