So here I sit, scratching my head about this tax refund deal. Just a few elements of the Associated Press story that got me thinking …

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Congress would act on the agreement — hammered out in a week of intense negotiations and uncustomary bipartisanship — "at the earliest date, so that those rebate checks can be in the mail."

Nancy Pelosi and congressional Democrats are in favor giving tax money back?? Already things don't sound right.

The rebates, which would go to about 116 million families, had appeal for both Democrats and Republicans. Pelosi's staff noted that they would include $28 billion in checks to 35 million working families who wouldn't have been helped by Bush's original proposal.

Individuals who pay income taxes would get up to $600, working couples $1,200 and those with children an additional $300 per child under the agreement. Workers who make at least $3,000 but don't pay taxes would get $300 rebates.

Workers who don't pay taxes will be getting a rebate on the taxes that they didn't pay. Alright. Can someone explain to me how this isn't a handout? And can someone explain to me where the money will come from to cover this so-called rebate handout?

Bush wanted to give a bigger refund to those of us who've actually paid taxes, but Pelosi and the Dems want to earmark some of that refund money for people who don't have a dime in the system.

Ahhh…. OK. Now that is starting to sound more like Democrats as I know them. I wonder what they think they're buying for their money. Can't you just hear the campaign ads this November? "Attention poor people … remember those checks you got over the summer? Well, keep in mind which party came through with that summertime mad money for you…"

The principal players in pulling the deal together were Pelosi, House Republican leader John Boehner and Paulson. The package would allow businesses to immediately write off 50 percent of purchases of plants and other capital equipment and permit small businesses to write off additional purchases of equipment.

Democrats who want to help businesses? OK, I'm scratching my head again.

"I do not understand, and cannot accept, the resistance of President Bush and Republican leaders to including an extension of unemployment benefits for those who are without work through no fault of their own," Rep. Charles B. Rangel, D-N.Y., the Ways and Means Committee chairman, said in a statement.

Gosh, Senator Chuck, could it have something to do with the idea that unemployment benefits were never intended to be a long-term substitute for finding a damn job? I don't know, maybe that's just my take on it. And as someone who was laid off a number of times "through no fault of my own" during the lean Clinton years, I can tell you that it is possible to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps without ever collecting that first unemployment check. But, again, maybe that's just me.

Bush has supported larger rebates of $800-$1,600, but his plan would have left out 30 million working households who earn paychecks but don't make enough to pay income tax…

Ah. In other words, Bush gets it. One of the few times in the last few years when I've actually found reason to think that he does get it. But the congressional Dems want to make sure that I get back less of my rebate so that they can give a rebate to people who aren't paying taxes to begin with. But I'm beating a dead horse by now.

So if you're one of the lucky ones who will be enjoying a rebate this year on the taxes that you didn't pay, I'd just like to take this opportunity to say "you're welcome." Enjoy some of the money that the government collected from me over the past year. I would have just spent it on something stupid like a mortgage payment anyway.

Labels: News, Personal, Politics