stimulus
(Mica_R)
—>Kiplinger lists four ways you can still get some cash back from the government, although you'd better get a move on if you want to qualify. Included are a first-time home buyer's credit that goes away November 30th, a new car tax credit, a COBRA premium subsidy for people laid off, and a slight unemployment payment benefit. More »
—>With Cash for Clunkers mostly over, Consumer Reports looks at the most popular new cars and the most popular clunkers that were traded in. More »
—>The Federal Reserve tried to hide the identities of companies that received emergency funding as the world economy went to hell, but a federal judge stepped in with a backhand Monday and stopped the practice, saying the Fed had failed to show that naming the businesses would cause "imminent competitive harm." More »
—>The economic recovery plan includes a nice little $25 a week bump for unemployed folks — but for some it comes with a catch — they no longer qualify for hundreds of dollars a month in food stamp benefits. Whoopsies! More »
—>The Chicago-based community organizer group the National Training and Information Center received more than $200,000 to train employees of other community organizations, but instead used the money to send its own employees to Washington D.C. to lobby for more funds. The misappropriated cash was part of more than $3.1 million in total government funds the NTIC received between 2000 and 2002. More »
—>BusinessWeek has an interesting article about a little known program that will allow first-time home buyers (technically, those who have not owned a home in three years) to use the 8k tax credit to offset down payments or closing costs. More »
—>Governor David Paterson of New York signed into law a bill extending unemployment benefits for thirteen more weeks. Around 56,000 people are on their last week of benefits right now, and the extension takes effect immediately. More »
President Obama has signed the stimulus package. "Today does not mark the end of our economic troubles," Obama said before signing the bill at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. "But it does mark the beginning of the end — the beginning of what we need to do to create jobs for Americans scrambling in the wake of layoffs; to provide relief for families worried they won't be able to pay next month's bills; and to set our economy on a firmer foundation." [CNN] More »
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has announced a new website, financialstability.gov, to increase transparency in the financial stability program. More »
Senate approves $838 billion economic stimulus bill 61 to 37. C-Span says three Republicans broke ranks to vote for it: Senators Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, and Arlen Specter. More »
Want to know what the latest version of the stimulus package looks like? "We've trimmed the fat, fried the bacon, and milked the sacred cows," Sen. Ben Nelson said in a statement. [Consumer Reports] More »
—>What do you do when your industry starts to go belly up and you can't make enough revenue to stay afloat? If you're a short-sighted U.S. auto maker, you beg the government for $25-50 billion in immediate, low-interest loans in order to retool your plants, so you can start producing the hybrid cars you should have been planning years ago. More »
—>Kroger is getting into the stimulus bonus action! Unwilling to be outdone by Sears, Kroger is offering a bonus if you put your stimulus check on a Kroger gift card. They have Kroger gift cards? My what a sexy gift. Honey, you shouldn't have. More »
—>Sears is pretty desperate for that stimulus check money. They're offering a 10% bonus to anyone who converts their stimulus check into a Sears Gift Card. More »
—>There are a lot of myths and rumors going around out there about the upcoming stimulus check. Tax Cat is in full debunk mode this morning. Careful of the claws, ladies and gentlemen. He gets touchy when tax season ends and he has to retire the glasses for another year and go back to ruining things in Chad's apartment. More »
—>The IRS has more information about the upcoming economic stimulus payments. Woohoo! More »
