A possible way to stimulate the economy, tax returns before Christmans...

many retail firms depend on Christmas for yearly profits.

Set the tax return deadline to Oct. 1, so that people could get their tax return before the Christmas season. Oct 1 is when the U.S. governments fiscal year begins.

The idea came from my son in law. His family just celebrated Christmas when their tax return arrived.

If you're interested in some kind of stimulus WITHOUT a jobs program

package has failed to accomplish.

Dollar for dollar, it may actually result in a negative cash injection into the economy, depending entirely on how a desperate heterogeneous population decides to spend the money. If it goes to pay off debt or buy services that do not stimulate tangential sectors much (like online porn), it would fail miserably. You should note:



The government is much better off collecting more tax money (than less) and directly spending it on food stamps, infrastructure projects, and goods & service vouchers. Handing out personal or corporate tax cuts is pretty much zero sum, and it deprives the government of funds at the same time (that it could otherwise use effectively)

and spend, spend, spend.

When my son in law visited Best Buy the place was packed with people spending their tax returns on big screen TVs and i phones.

Imagine how a really big Christmas season could stimulate manufacturing.

Online porn sites always amazed me. Plenty is available free. (Don't ask me how I know.) :)

Seriously, its not a great way to stimulate the economy. Yes, you need to employ salesmen and cover the transportation domestically, but thats it.

Allowing someone to buy a foreign TV if they choose may do little, but spending it on a domestic project that gives them a job (which pays them money they can buy TVs with) may be a bit of a better job. Domestic projects stimulate the workers (and where they spend the money), the suppliers of the materials (steel, concrete, rock, etc), the tool makers, the transportation industry the delivers the supplies, etc, into a big long chain outward.

This tax cut insanity has got to stop. Its not the cure for a shitty economy whatsoever, and can even be the poison.

I was hoping that the "shovel ready" programs would be underway by this time and major efforts would be under consideration to improve our infrastructure. From sewers to the power grid, we face major problems in the near future if we don't treat upgrading our infrastructure seriously.

We could upgrade our internet system to provide high speed access to rural areas of the country and move many internet dependent jobs from the city. People could work from home rather than causing congestion and traffic jams. I've known companies who have tried this and found it works.

I personally like the idea of high speed rail systems to reduce our reliance on freeway systems.

We need bold ideas and we also need a Congress that is willing to solve problems rather then fight like elementary students in a playground.

I believe Obama can provide the leadership but he has to stop listening to Reid and Pelosi. Their efforts to pass legislation such as heathcare reform has been a train wreck.

A pet peeve of mine.

Heh, just saying. Sometimes figuring out more ways to take money out of the government coffers so people can buy beer and online porn isn't the most effective way to get things done.

Raising the top marginal rate is one heck of one thats been done before

we will have another Ronny Raygun in 3 years.

If it does work, Obama will have a second term.

While they are attempting to raise the top marginal rate, any new stimulus or jobs program will be heavily business friendly and bi-partisan, employing trickle down philosophy. Thats just the way it is.

A chunk of the first bill was tax cuts. Much of what was left was just used as a crutch to keep states functioning (which is necessary). Little was left to increase demand/production to baseline. An attempt to please everyone at once resulted in somewhat of a dulling, dollar for dollar, of the stimulus. Thats life.

Raising the top marginal rate is a good step for sound tax policy, but they need to be more aggressive about direct stimulus instead of supply-side stimulus.

multinational corporations.

This has disadvantages.

I feel politicians should be required to wear NASCAR uniforms with patches from the corporations that sponsor them.

The writing would be fine print, and therefore useless, if you were to list all their owners.

Are really worried that people will spend their entire tax refund on online porn?

Seems like an odd thing to be worried about.

Here is something on it:
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/02/bush-porn/

The main industry that had growth correlating to the rebate was online porn.

The real lesson to be learned is that relying on people (or even rich people) to collectively enact an effective stimulus by handing them money and hoping they spend it well is a tad bit stupid.

Then these Einsteins wonder why our area (with its 19% unemployment) cant support three major malls because consumers are too tapped out to spend on Xmas gifts.

have to pay in.

will not solve our economic woes..

We need to TAX THE HELL out of the so-called US companies that MAKE their crap in slave-wage countries.

Make it cost them TOO much to have their factories off shore.. and TAX the hell out of the ones who "incorporate" offshore to avoid taxes..

and make the people making 300K & up pay at least 30%..and limit their deductions so they cannot write everything off & end up paying nothing..or next to nothing..

and eliminate home deductions for homes valued at more than 650K..and for 2nd homes altogether.

make minimum wage $12.00 hr

Getting them to vote such ideas into law is impossible.