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The 2008 Economic Stimulus Package aimed to boost the US economy through tax rebates, business incentives, and increased loan limits. However, critics feared it would increase national debt and benefit foreign economies. The package included tax rebates for individuals and families, but polls showed most Americans intended to save or pay off debt rather than spend the money. Business incentives could potentially create jobs and keep funds in the US.
The 2008 Economic Stimulus Package was an ambitious bill passed by the US Congress in an attempt to address America’s faltering economy. The goal of the package was to stimulate consumer spending and encourage businesses to expand, hopefully creating more jobs and further boosting the economy. Supporters of the legislation believed it would support the economy and possibly prevent a recession, or at least reduce a recession’s impact on the American people. Detractors questioned whether the package was a sound financial move, fearing it could increase the national debt.
Americans were most interested in the section of the Economic Stimulus Package that created discounts on tax returns, based on 2007 reported income. For anyone not subject to tax who earns at least $3,000 US each year, the discount would be $300. and would double for couples filing jointly, while individuals earning less than $75,000 US with tax liabilities would receive refund checks of $600 each, doubled for couples filing jointly. People earning more than $75,000 in the United States but less than $87,000 in the United States will receive varying amounts, while people with higher incomes will receive no cashback checks. The Economic Stimulus Package also included a $300 payment for every child under the age of 17 by December 31, 2007. The Internal Revenue Service estimated in March 2008 that more than 130 million households would receive stimulus checks.
The rebate checks incorporated into the economic stimulus package have attracted a lot of attention and generated debate. Speeches by various politicians have suggested that they expected consumers to spend checks, thereby injecting money into the American economy. However, polls of Americans conducted by a variety of organizations indicated that most Americans intended to put their money into savings or apply it to debt. While these are sound financial decisions, they would not necessarily cause the US economy to grow.
Other sections of the economic stimulus package have created tax rebates and incentives for businesses and raised limits on Federal Housing Administration loans in hopes of making home ownership more affordable for lower- and middle-class Americans. The business incentives in the Economic Stimulus Package could potentially have longer-lasting benefits by encouraging businesses to stay in the US, thereby creating jobs and keeping funds in America, rather than sending them overseas.
Critics of the 2008 economic stimulus package have pointed out that the US had a very large national debt and that many countries, including China, hold a large portion of US debt, creating a situation that could be potentially catastrophic. These critics also expressed concerns that rebate controls would not stimulate consumer spending, and if they did, spending would likely be centered on high-value appliances made by companies based outside the US, so the package Economic stimulus may be more likely to benefit foreign economies than the American one. These critics implied that the checks consisted of “bread” in “bread and circuses,” with the farcical race for the Democratic presidential nomination that same year featuring “circus.”
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