Yeah, the ones that deserve to be taxes the most are the rich, of course. Taxing the poor more than the rich is kind of unthinkable in the Netherlands. As far as I know, no serious political party advocates this, not even the most right-wing ones.

I'm still not sure if it'll boost the economy

As you may recall, the checks were part of a major tax-cutting effort in the first year of the Bush administration.

Part of those tax cuts was a reduction in rates, including a drop from 15 percent to 10 percent on the first $6,000 of income for singles and $12,000 for married taxpayers filing jointly.

That equaled a cut of $300 and $600. But instead of implementing the cut in the tax tables that accompanied the 2001 1040s in April 2002, Congress and the Bush administration sent out the checks early, then delayed changing the rates until the tables in the April 2003 1040s.

The forms for the 2001 tax year could have included a line at the end of the 1040 for taxpayers to take the amount of the check and reduce their refunds - or add the figure to the amount owed. But the IRS didn't do that, wanting to reduce the number of calculations necessary.

“Most analysts agree that the 2001 rebate stimulated the economy,” CBO said, “although there is some debate about the magnitude of the effect.” Households, according to one study, spent between 20% and 40% of their rebate amount in the quarter in which the rebate was received.

Other researchers, using credit card data, found spending increased by about 40% of the rebate on average. The study also found that consumption rose the most for consumers who had credit problems but those with strong credit responded to the rebate by paying down their debt.

Hey Steel/anyone else who would know: Do you know when we're getting this money? When are we getting it and what is the procedure to get it?

I get what you're saying, but my point was that the government's only agenda is to stimulate the economy. It might not work, but that's not the point. Really though, $300 dollars can't cause one individual that much damage unless they happen to be a complete moron.

I get what you're saying, but my point was that the government's only agenda is to stimulate the economy. It might not work, but that's not the point. Really though, $300 dollars can't cause one individual that much damage unless they happen to be a complete moron.