http://www.recovery.gov/




Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Relief For America’s Working Families

The United States faces the most severe economic and financial crisis in generations. Tragically, much of the damage has fallen principally on Main Street. To help middle-class families get back on their feet and restore some fairness to the tax code, President Obama in February signed one of his signature issues into law – the Making Work Pay tax credit. As a result, families across the country are seeing more money in their paychecks.
This is one of the fastest and broadest tax cuts in American history.

Since the enactment of the Recovery Act, American workers have seen increases in their paychecks reflecting the new credit and the Administration’s commitment to the middle class. IRS guidance asks that, by April 1, employers must have instituted the lower withholdings for their employees.

The Making Work Pay tax credit is the tax reduction centerpiece of The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (The Recovery Act) of 2009. The credit provides the most households ever with a tax cut—over 110 million or about 95 percent of working families. President Obama strongly pursued the credit because it puts money back into the pockets of working Americans.

Restoring Fairness to the Tax Code and Providing Tax Relief to Working Americans. The Making Work Pay Tax Credit aims to help middle class families who are being squeezed by rising costs and stagnating wages.

* For 2009 and 2010, the “Making Work Pay” tax credit provides a refundable tax credit of 6.2 percent of earned income up to $400 for working individuals and $800 for married taxpayers.
* Families should see at least a $65 dollar per month increase in their take home pay.
* The credit will phase out for taxpayers with adjusted gross income in excess of $150,000 for married couples filing jointly and $75,000 for other workers, and thus is fully phased out for taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income in excess of $190,000 for married workers and $95,000 for other workers.

Getting Needed Cash to Working Families. In an effort to get much-needed cash to hard working Americans as quickly as possible, in late February the President announced the IRS would issue a new set of withholding tables structured to get the tax credit to America’s workers in cash over the course of the year. By reducing required withholding amounts, workers’ take home pay is increased immediately.

A good idea, but deceptive. The income tax should have been suspended,totally, for all wage earners making less than $250,000 per year. Drastic? You betcha, but better than borrowing trillions to maintain a ballooned currency or printing fake money. That earned money not surrendered to the IRS would have been REAL money,not the toilet paper we will soon see. The government could have sold Treas. Bills to US, not the Chinese/Japanese. We could have invested in and shared in our eventual recovery. But we won't. We will recover but with an incredible and unecessary debt.

13.00 a week isn't going to stimulate me to do a damn thing, if Obama thinks this is going to satisfy the middle class as a tax break, he is farther out of touch from reality than I thought. You can't even buy a bucket of KFC for that small amount.

SSC wrote:13.00 a week isn't going to stimulate me to do a damn thing, if Obama thinks this is going to satisfy the middle class as a tax break, he is farther out of touch from reality than I thought. You can't even buy a bucket of KFC for that small amount.

Crumbs tossed to pigeons.

http://www.mint.com/blog/finance-core/how-much-will-you-benefit-from-the-stimulus-package/



President Obama will sign the $787 billion stimulus package into law this week, with approximately 35% going towards tax cuts and the rest going towards stimulus spending. Just about everyone stands to benefit from the stimulus in some fashion in the short-term, but a few demographics have an opportunity to reap more gains than others. Here is a list of seven groups of Americans who stand to gain the most from the soon to be enacted stimulus package.
1. Wage Earners & the Self-Employed

Wage earners and the self-employed are eligible for up to $400 a year for single taxpayers and up to $800 for couples filing jointly in both 2009 and 2010. If you are single, the credit starts to phase out at an adjusted gross income of $75,000. If you are part of a couple filing jointly, your phaseout would begin at $150,000 of adjusted gross income. You’re probably wondering when the check will arrive. It won’t. The IRS will begin reducing withholding taxes automatically at the clip of about $30-$40 a month. If you are self-employed, you can claim your credit when you file your return for 2009.
2. First-Time Homebuyers

Thinking of buying your first house? Although the oft-mentioned $15,000 credit for all home purchases was dropped from the final stimulus package, first-time home buyers can still claim a tax credit of up to $8,000 if the home is purchased between January 1st and December 1st of this year. If you purchase between these dates, you won’t have to repay the credit, as those who purchased in 2008 are required to. This is only for primary residences and the house cannot be sold within 3 years in order to keep the credit. Huge bummer for aspiring house flippers.
3. Home-Owners Looking to Improve Home Energy-Efficiency

If you’ve been thinking of adding new windows, an outer door, insulation, or other energy-efficient improvements around the house, this might be a smart year to do so. The max energy-efficiency credit has been raised from $500 to $1,500, and from 10% of the project’s cost to 30%. Additional purchases include energy efficient appliances such as air conditioners and water heaters. Before making a purchase, make sure the product is eligible for the credit.
4. Vehicle Buyers

If you purchase a new car, light truck, SUV, motorcycle, or RV after the package has been signed, you are able to deduct state and local sales or excise tax on the first $49,500 of the vehicle’s cost. This deduction starts to phase out for single taxpayers with adjusted gross incomes over $125,000 and couples over $250,000. You get the deduction whether or not you itemize on your return. If you’re in the market for a plug-in hybrid, you could benefit from a credit of at least $2,500 on up to $7,500.
5. Students

The American Opportunity (formerly known as HOPE) credit for college expenses will increase from $1,800 to $2,500 in both 2009 and 2010. The credit covers 100% of the first $2,000 of tuition and related expenses per year and 25% of the next $2,000. This credit has also been extended from two to four years of college and can now count against book purchases. Credits are phased out for singles earning over $80,000, and married couples earning $160,000.
6. The Unemployed

Have you been laid off recently? Take some solace in knowing that the first $2,400 in unemployment benefits received can now be excluded from income. Additionally, you may also be eligible for a 65% subsidy for up to 9 months if you stay on your former employers health insurance policy. You will also start to receive a $25 weekly increase in your benefit check.

If you’ve been worried that your 26 weeks of unemployment benefits were almost up, you may now benefit from up to an additional 33 weeks through the end of the year. Check with your local unemployment office for further clarification.
7. Middle Classers Scheduled to Get an AMT Tax Hit

Middle classers can expect a $500 increase in the AMT exemption for individuals, to $46,700, and a $1,000 increase for couples, up to $70,950. This temporary fix is thought to free 26 million families from the AMT in 2009.
What’s Next?

The stimulus package has not done much to solve the foreclosure and negative equity problems that the country is facing, and the market has reacted with uncertainty as a result. Many homeowners were hoping an across-the-board interest rate decrease would be worked into the stimulus package and were disappointed to get no relief in this area. The next step for the Obama administration should be to create a plan to help stem foreclosures before they’ve already happened. Meanwhile, how much do you stand to gain from the stimulus package?

If you read the fine print on the tax breaks for home buyers it must be paid back within 5 years, so what kind of a break is it. All that is happening is billions of dollars are being printed on paper not worth as much as toilet paper. His fancy over seas trip netted nearly zero in support either financial or for the military, so in my opinion it was a failure. Calling America arrogant in the eyes of the world is just plain stupid, or refusing to say America is a nation of Christians, so much for all the bible thumping...

He said we are no longer "just" a Christian nation, but a nation of many other faiths as well. A chain e-mail drops that key word and thus changes the meaning.

I just listened to him speak his words on the news , he wants to break out and let his Muslim background show forth , and it is coming to the surface faster than you can imagine. His submissive bow to the king proved a picture is worth a thousand words. how friggin pathetic.

The White House press staff says he was just reaching to shake the hand of someone further back. Since they were all standing on a level floor, we must assume he was reaching for a dwarf.

Video: Obama’s deep bow to the Saudi king
By Michelle Malkin • April 2, 2009 01:36 PM


(AFP/Jim Watson)

I have expressed my disgust many times over the years with the Bush administration’s kowtowing to Saudi Arabia. That notorious image of Bush holding hands with Saudi royalty in 2005 and doing sword dances with Wahabbists in 2008 sparked outrage on both the left and the right. The hand-holding has gotten us nowhere — and in fact, has made us less secure.

So I hope all the lefties who tore into Bush over his Saudi prostration will express equal disgust with President HopeAndChange’s literal bowing and scraping to King Abdullah. When JWF sent a link to the photo with Obama bent down like a serf (further than either he or Michelle dipped for Queen Elizabeth, by the way), I tried to give the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he dropped a contact lens or penny?

I see nothing wrong with a bow, Obama has never gone with protocol, he stated that in the very begining why hould he start now?

also in every faith there is good/bad there are good muslims and bad ones~ nothing new in that thinking~


http://michellemalkin.com/2009/04/02/video-obamas-deep-bow-to-the-saudi-king/

Maybe the statement should have read Barack be a good boy Massa....

Aha! As I said a few minutes ago, Michelle Malkin, a VERY conservative commentator,did NOT call for Obama;s impeachment nor have any other credible conservatives. Such silliness is almost ALWAYS the behavior of hyper-libs. And she DID recall the general disgust conservatives felt at Bush's somewhat gay "hand holding" with the Saudi prince. It must be difficult being a liberal at times. Ya never know what people sctually did or said because ya gots millions of other liberals making it up too.

I never said she ?Michelle Malkin/)called for his impeachment, people responding, he should be impeached, wackos in my book~ lol