I'm seeing reports that Obama is now willing to allow some offshore drilling if it's carefully managed and so on. Supposedly, he's offering compromise to Republikans so they won't try to block all of his other energy proposals.

Right. We all know how well Republikans compromise.

McSame's also trying to make Obama's plans to give people a break with money taxed on record oil company profits into some crazy plan that will put companies out of business. Puh-lease! Digby got me started on this, so I thought I'd cross-post my comments here. (more)

Both Think Progress and Pam's House Blend are reporting that Bush's economic stimulus package may be doing its bit to stimulate a lot of, um, packages (if you get my drift).  According to an independent market-research firm, AIMRCo (Adult Internet Market Research Company), many websites dealing in pornography have seen their members growing and their profits getting fatter in the weeks since the economic stimulus checks were mailed out.

The only reasonable inference that can be drawn from all of this:

People are spending the money, but not on the things that the government expected them to (unless Bush has secret investments in the porn industry that no one is aware of).

Since I posted my last entry, I looked up the senate vote on this little theft in the form of so called "rebate" checks....

I wonder which Neocon came up with the rather insidious idea of these "rebate" checks from the government to us that will be arriving in the next week or two. I wouldn't give credit to Helicopter Ben Bernanke, since he wasn't around when the bush administration did this for the first time in 2001.

But what a brilliant way this is to steal a few thousand dollars from every American without them even realizing it.

I wonder how much money the government has wasted on postage alone.

Today I received a letter in the mail telling me that my direct deposit bounced back, so they would send my refund via check in about 3 weeks. Another envelope also from the IRS today contained said refund check.

Yesterday I received a letter from the IRS telling me that my stimulus rebate check should be mailed by May 9th. They sent me a similar letter last month. And of course, they'll soon be mailing the check. That's the cost of 3 letters just to send me a $300 check.

Of course, State governments waste money too. My university sends me a letter every semester saying "You have a financial aid refund. If you want us to mail it, mail us this form back and we'll mail you the check." Again, three stamps for one transaction.

Just random thoughts.

Hillary's gas scam misses the point: we just use too much gas!  Here are some ideas on how to save.  Please feel free to add to the list:

My dad and I were talking about it, and we decided the best use of the rebate check was to send it straight to the ACLU.  It will stimulate the economy and protect the Constitution at the same time.  They'll buy paper, underpay their lawyers and pay their rent and fight BushCO and his criminal family.

The best part is the reaction you get from Repugs when you tell them how your going to spend your rebate check.

You've probably heard that rebate money is imminent, and, while gratifying in the short term, it's a not-so-welcome reminder of how if'd up our situation has become.

Nonetheless, I know many of you, like me, are eagerly awaiting your George Bush reparations, so you can donate more of your money (on Soros's behalf, of course) to Obama’s campaign. It's ironic, as I'm certain that's not where Bush wants us to spend it, but I think he will ultimately be pleased with the results (even if it is from his holding cell at the Hague).

And while, on a base level, I will send Obama ‘08 part of my rebate check out of spite (and not just a little bitterness), I am confident in its value as a long-term investment in America's future.

In the event any of you lucky muggers have already received your stimulating rebates, you can help turn our economy around here: https://donate.barackobama.com/...

Is Bush expanding welfare?

There are times when government truly embarrases me. Many times it's the way that they deal with our senior citizens, especially our low income seniors.

This hits home for me because of have a mom and dad that fall into this category and I constantly have to be on the lookout for them.

The latest boondoggle - the economic stimulus package passed in it's full wisdom by our beloved congress and signed into law by our chimp in chief.

***UPDATE*** Link to the IRS bulletin that spells out what social security recipients must do is here.

OK, this is where I'm coming from.  The economic stimulation bill just passed by the Congress is proof that the inmates at the asylum don't know crap about economics and about how humans work.  Not to mention the fact that, since the US is running a deficit, every dollar that is "rebated" to taxpayers and non-taxpayers is being borrowed, largely from our dear friends and allies in China and elsewhere.  How can this toxic feedback loop be mitigated?  A modest proposal, after the fold.

John Aravosis puts his WATB hat on and bitches about not getting enough money from the Government:

That means that if you make $75,000 or more a year, no check for you. Forget that fact that you live in NYC or DC or San Francisco, where prices from property to food are outrageous. No, forget that. Some guy living in a mansion in Topeka making $74,999 a year will get his little gift from the US Treasury and you, living in NYC making $75,001 out of a 300 sq ft studio apartment will get nothing. How about my friend who bought an entire house in Baltimore for $275,000 when that would get you a very small studio in DC. I know someone who got an entire house in Ohio for $2000 a month when that would get you a one-bedroom apartment in DC. I have a friend who moved to North Carolina and got offered a bit over $75k a year. He said it was a king's ransom in NC. In DC, well, again, keep checking out those studios. And another friend has a 900 sq ft condo, and paid more for it than another friend's parents paid for their 6000 sq ft house.

Wah fucking wah.

I just finished reading about the so-called"economic stimulus package" being touted by Congress.  Now, I'm no economist, but I'm pretty sure this thing isn't going to work the way the folks in Washington think it will.

Do they think we'll take that money and go buy one of them fancy iPhones or a Wii?  Perhaps take a little vacation, ya know, to forget that the economy sucks.

I don't think so.

But TigerMom, you say, by your own admission, you're no economist.  What makes you think you know what's up?  Surely, the good folks in DC know how to handle these things.

Not.

I'm no economist, but I'm a mother with a family budget and debt.  Let me tell you what I think is gonna go down.

I'm sure that I'll be in a minority, but this is foolishness.

I just called Senator Lugar and told him that this economic stimulus plan is ridiculous.

So, Bush wants to give you $800 (maybe).

I will treat any rebate as an opportunity to invest in the destruction of the Republican Party.

Will someone please try to explain to me why the plan being proposed by Republicans and a few misguided Democrats to offer $100 rebates to, as Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said, " help ease the pain that they're feeling at the pump," is not simply another major taxpayer subsidy to Big Oil?

These are federal dollars that have been gouged from our pockets by an unholy alliance of Big Oil and laissez faire Republican Government. Now, rather than institute conservation measures or put our dollars to work developing other fuel sources we are asked to borrow more money from the treasury to further enrich the already obscenely bloated oiligarchs of the corporate criminal world.

You glance around furtively, wondering what poor person has dropped this sizable chunk of change--but no one is in sight. Freed from your guilt, you begin a process of elimination: Specifically, how will you eliminate this $100? Think about that for a moment. Will you squirrel it away in your savings account? Pay off a credit card bill?