Free Republic

When Congress passed an economic-stimulus package giving hefty rebates to most taxpayers, it tried to make sure that illegal immigrants didn't get any of the cash. But in doing so lawmakers inadvertently penalized hundreds of thousands of legal U.S. residents - and tens of thousands of U.S. troops stationed overseas - simply because their spouses lack a Social Security number. --snip-- Because illegal immigrants don't have Social Security numbers and instead routinely use "tax identification numbers," Congress banned rebates for taxpayers who use the IRS-issued numbers. If a married couple files jointly and one spouse doesn't have a Social Security...

Gas, video games, meditation, booze. What, you were planning on paying bills? As if -- Here's the bad news: Your little recession-deflecting tax rebate? No rebate at all. Not even close. It's more like this: You've been continuously mugged and beaten and robbed blind for the past seven years straight, and as you lay there on the cold, hard economic ground, bleeding and gasping and wondering what the hell happened to your vacation time and your health care plan and your mortgage payment, your attackers scoff and leer and toss a couple of bloodstained nickels on your pulverized face and...

WASHINGTON - United for urgent action, the White House and Congress raced toward emergency steps Thursday to rescue the national economy from a possible recession, including tax rebates of at least $300 a person — and maybe as much as $800. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke endorsed the idea of putting money into the hands of those who would spend it quickly and boost the flagging economy. All the talk of rescue efforts failed to soothe Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrials plunged 306.95 points, underscoring deepening concern about the country's economic health. The sudden scramble to take action came...

Jefferson City, MO (LifeNews.com) -- Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt signed a bill allowing donors to crisis pregnancy centers to be eligible for state tax breaks provided the donations go to groups that do not perform abortions or refer women to abortion centers. The legislation will help pregnant women, but Planned Parenthood opposes it because it would likely lose money as a result.The legislation allows a tax write-off of half of the value of a donation made between $100 and $50,000. The state would limit the tax write-offs to a total of $2 million in donations annually."These are resource centers that...

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) - Almost half of Americans who've received tax-rebate checks have used the money to pay off their debt -- not spent it in the mall, according to a recent CBS News/MarketWatch poll. Thirty percent of those surveyed said they've received their rebate checks and of those, 46 percent said the money went to pay bills. Another 29 percent said they've saved or invested the rebates, while just 18 percent said they spent it. The results are at odds with the Bush Administration's hope, and possibly that of retailers, for the tax rebate: that Americans would spend the...