Poverty is Expensive
The news today is that an economic stimulus package designed by the House and approved the White House* will include tax rebates aimed at the poorest Americans. The reason for making sure that poor families receive these rebates is poor families are more likely to spend the money, putting it back into the economy in an effort to stave off recession. In an era where the American savings rate is near Depression-era levels, discouraging savings, especially among the poor, makes no sense to me.
This stimulant package reminds me of states' use of lottery games to fill their coffers. Lotteries are often called a tax on the poor, because the most common players of the game are those living below median income. The stimulant package reeks of the same ideas.
Giving them a tax rebate, because it will be likely be spent instead of saved is another method by which America's poor are forced to stay in their current conditions.
*The bill is unlikely to make it through the Senate in it's current state.
Comments
I remember getting an extra tax rebate check when Bush first came to office. I was very annoyed about it and would have much rather seen that money go towards things like education and medical research. It was around $ 200.00 and even though I was poor, it seemed like nothing and was gone in a flash with me having nothing to show for it.
The first story I read about the current stimulus package included the following
sanctimonious crudola… "For Sue Westbrook, it'll pay off the bills.
For JoAnn Gardner, a tax rebate will pay for gas, groceries and her medication." It'll pay off the bills for a month or two, but then what?