[CanisMajor2002]

What's the DEAL? What did the Republicans get besides a little vaseline?

[okkev68]

They didn't pay any taxes! Am I missing something? This is supposed to be a refund/reduction/etc... If they want to do a handout then do it through welfare benefits.

[ClearCase_guy]

Love those headline writers. As soon as I saw the headline "Senators Strike Children", I knew that we were dealing with evil Republicans. I just thought it might be a crime story.

[Recovering_Democrat]

P*****s. I hope GW vetos this piece of crap. People who don't pay taxes shouldn't get a tax benefit.

[TexasGunLover]

Why should people who don't pay income tax get a refund? That makes no sense at all and is pure socialism...

[MJY1288]

I'm losing faith in Frist, Hopefully the House ignores this givaway

[ancient_geezer]

The bill's $10 billion cost will be offset by an extension of customs fees.

Once again smoke and mirrors strike. They give with one hand while taking with another.

Custom fees are embedded in the price of goods received as imports. Tariffs and excises, for the most part, increase the prices of goods. Guess who buys the most imported (e.g. discount) goods?

http://www.cbpp.org/taxday98.htm

CBO Estimates of Effective Federal Tax Rates for 1998
Families Ranked by Income Quintile	Individual Income Tax	Social Insurance Taxes	Corporate Income Tax	Excise & Tariff Tax	Total Federal Taxes
Lowest	-6.9%	7.8%	0.5%	2.8%	4.2%
Second	1.7%	9.9%	0.9%	1.6%	14.2%
Third	6.3%	10.8%	1.4%	1.2%	19.7%
Fourth	9.0%	11.3%	1.4%	1.0%	22.7%
Highest	16.2%	8.0%	4.6%	0.5%	29.3%
Top 10%	18.0%	6.7%	5.8%	0.4%	30.8%
Top 5%	19.7%	5.3%	7.0%	0.3%	32.3%
Top 1%	23.0%	3.0%	9.5%	0.2%	35.7%
Average for all families	11.2%	9.3%	3.0%	0.9%	24.4%
Source: Congressional Budget Office, May 15, 1997. Notes:  Pre-tax family income is the sum of wages, salaries, self-employment income, rents, taxable and non-taxable interest, dividends, realized capital gains, and all cash transfer payments. Income also includes the employer share of Social Security and federal unemployment insurance payroll taxes, and the corporate income tax. For purposes of ranking by adjusted family income (AFI), income for each family is divided by the poverty threshold for a family of that size. Quintiles contain equal numbers of people. Families with zero or negative income are excluded from the lowest income category but included in the total. Individual income taxes are distributed directly to families paying those taxes. Payroll taxes are distributed to families paying those taxes directly or indirectly through their employers. Federal excise taxes are distributed to families according to their consumption of the taxed good or service. Corporate income taxes are distributed to families according to their share of capital income.

[RightWhale]

"This administration is waging war on poor children," said Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.

Yeah, like that's a real appropriate remark. Go on back to your Twin Oaks commune and wait for our call.

[Ford Fairlane]

This is bull

And what really pisses me off, the only "minimum wage" workers I know are waitresses, who usually only report 10% of their tips

At the watering holes I go to, they get around $150/night in tips

Figure they work 5 shifts per week, 50 weeks per year (2 weeks vacation) that comes to $37,500/yr just in tips!

[KansasGirl]

What the chances this welfare giveaway will pass the House? No doubt W will sign it.

[Sloth]

I have a groundbreaking idea for the GOP. We should not only support this $1K per child tax credit for everybody, we should quadruple it (the Dems would have a collective heart attack). THEN we start calling it a "school voucher" and declare victory. Drastically scale back public school funding, and statutorily require public schools to charge parents directly on a 'fee-for-service' basis, and require the tax credit money to be used for education at the school of the parents' choice.

[The Old Hoosier]

This isn't a deal. If they're going to use the tax bill to give welfare, they're going to have to make it permanent first.

[hsmomx3]

According to the IRS website http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=109812,00.html

some people making under this 26k will receive money this summer. Here is an example from the website:

Ms. Gray has one child, age 7; her 2002 earned income was $16,560; she claimed a Child Tax Credit of $368 and an Additional Child Tax Credit of $232. Ms. Gray will receive an advance payment of $389.

[NC Conservative]

refundable tax credits

READ: Income Redistribution

[Publius6961]

Minimum wage workers would get the same rebate check, worth $400 per child, going to other families later this summer — giving Democrats a rare victory in a Republican-ruled government.

That's fraud.

If any company in the U.S. tried that they would face class action lawsuits and jail time.

What makes legislators exempt?

Have they legislated a new definition for "rebate" which is 180 degrees from its original meaning?
Can they do that?

[Centurion2000]

Minimum wage workers would get the same rebate check, worth $400 per child, going to other families later this summer — giving Democrats a rare victory in a Republican-ruled government.

WTF is this guy talking about ... Democrats are getting almost EVERYTHING they want in this administration.

[rwfromkansas]

Well, I am not jumping up and down about this one.

We got part of what we wanted, but not all of it.

I do not like the idea of giving a rebate to someone that does not deserve it!!!! Maybe it will help the economy somehow though. Since the folks who will be getting it will immediately spend it instead of save it (these folks don't know the word "save"), it may help at least for a bit....maybe. But the impact may be so small as to not even be noticeable.

[GraniteStateConservative]

"There is a deal," said a spokesman for Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., who has been advocating the change since President Bush signed a $350 billion tax cut last month.

Sen. Lincoln is working hard in Washington to bring needed tax relief to Arkansas families-- and she's getting results. Re-elect Sen. Lincoln-- strong leadership for Arkansans.

Yeah, Arkansas didn't need any GOP senators anyway. Rev. Mike can join the Bush Administration in 2005, I guess.

[RetiredArmy]

The government stealing by the point of a gun from actual tax payers to give it away free to those who are unable to earn it for themselves continues.

[Pukin Dog]

Will everyone please just calm down?

The Senate agreed to this thing to get rid of it. Tom Delay has already said the sucker is dead unless they agree to attach killing the Estate tax to it.

Passing the bill gets the thing off the front pages, where it can die a slow death. Nothing has changes, they only got rid of the issue.