taken out to pay down credit cards.  

I'm thrilled that our federal government that is hemorrhaging money hand over fist decided to let me loan then $150 for approx. two weeks, and then gives me $600 back in return. Brilliant! I mean, why not $2000? They can just print the money, right?

I'm using the cash to finish paying off my plasma tv I bought in December -- interest free loan through June. Thanks, Uncle Sam!

at least some of this rebate to the charity of your choice.  There are lots of worthy ones, so think about contributing 10%, 20%, or more of your rebate to a great cause!

is going to the airline industry as we are flying my husband's and daughter's friends out to KC in june.  the other part is going to pay off bills.

so we can end 8 years of idiocy and not extend it with McCain for four years more.

The rest goes into savings...

n/t

I was going to be flippant and invest it in foreign stocks (which really is a sound investment these days, sadly)...  but I like this idea even better.

A little to Obama, a lot to Democratic congressional campaigns, because President Obama will need a lot of help undoing the damage of the Bush regime.

right into my savings account. While I think it is a stupid idea, ill take it!

That is not the purpose of the stimulus/rebate check!  

That money is supposed to be circulating through the economy purchasing goods, not sitting in a savings account!  

Spend! Spend! Spend!

"Go shopping!"  Ha.

is that the "spend, spend, spend" theory is absolutely right in this case.

e.g. when consumer demand slows, the best first-line of defense against a recession is to goose consumer spending in the domestic economy.

In the big scheme of things I look at this rebate thing as mostly innocuous.  We lose maybe a couple cents on the dollar long-term.

Compared to ongoing occupation expenses in Iraq -- wow.  No comparison which spending program is more wasteful.  

Go out and buy flag pins, yellow car magnets, giant foam "USA is No. 1" fingers.  Our country is in need of real patriots ready to make the ultimate sacrifice ... that's right ... our country needs YOU to go to the nearest humongous mall to buy patriotic trinkets so we can build nations, save our economy, promote democracy, and win this war on Islamic extremism.  Otherwise, the "terrists" will win!  

we subversives have an urge to take it out of circulation by saving it or investing it in foreign companies...

until a better idea comes along, like investing it in progressive political campaigns, woo hoo!

I keep hearing this referred to as a "rebate" by politicians and the media. It's not a rebate, it's a giveaway. We borrowed every cent of the money.

Personally, I think people should give the checks to their grandkids (or invest it for future grandkids), because they're going to be the ones to pay the tab when it comes due.

This whole plan is a sad commentary on the state of financial education in America. Politicians think they can stimulate the economy by giving everyone a check because they know many people won't save it or pay down debt. Instead, they're confident we'll blow it all on crap we don't need.  

Though I'm grateful to earn a decent salary, I'd rather be paid in Euro's than in our weakening dollar.  The dollar is getting to be worthless; no wonder the price of gas is going through the roof.  

I'd love to know were the "free" dollars are coming from, and what will be the true price to our children to pay for this borrowed money that invariably will wind up in China either through the purchase of cheap garbage or through our debt to their government?

Either new blinds or new carpets.

With the housing downturn, I'm sure a lot of my local, hardworking home services companies are hurting, and these folks live locally too. My wife and I have been talking about getting new blinds or carpets, so we'll probably do that and lend a hand to some of our neighbors who run their own blinds business or something.

I've been eying a new HDTV. I'd be glad to put a "Sponsored by Eric" sticker on it...

are eying an electronic goody or two.  Maybe Uncle Sam should be distributing Best Buy gift cards instead.

Give the 6 or twelve hundred to whatever democratic candidate you choose. That would be my prescription  for change

No fun for me, I have an upcoming visit for one of my "Demo-cats" to the vet. (yes, my cats are partisan cats and no, I don't live alone with 20 of them)
Geesh, animals can be expensive.
After that, I will donate some $$ to Glenn Nye's campaign.

I'm going to buy a full tank of gas for my car.

It won't work. I'll probably use ours to pay off some debt and to buy construction materials for my new house.

I don't think it'll work either.  The issue is how much more time it'll buy us before things get worse.  

And the answer to that can be found in the rest of your response - it'll depend on how much people put toward paying off debt (or basic expenses like HisRoc's gas bill) vs making new purchases.  The more new purchases the more time we buy.  

But ultimately I don't see it helping much.

it actually makes things worse

It further allows the American public to put their collective heads in the sand

The CW is that it will be used to pay for gas.  So instead of confronting the problem of addressing the root causes of gas prices its another bandade of putting off the inevitable

 

n/t

Actually, I do not own an SUV..but given the price of gasoline and diesel- folks might pay down their gas cards.

On a more serious note...suggest a favorite local charity,local food bank, shelter, services for the elderly, veterans..etc.

After reading the latest National Geographic on China see Bitter Waters, you may consider donating to groups that support environmental efforts in China.
Pacific Environmental [www.pacificenvironment.org] is one organization.

it's really exciting that so many new people joined her campaign and donated $10 million in the day after PA! it would be nice to be a part of that.
other than that...gas and bread money!?!

one person that was helping her raise money...they've given their support to Obama.

not that one guy of course. besides in that very article an objective democratic analyst "agreed that the switch from one camp to the other doesn't mean that more are on the way"  

Only in today's USA could taking out a loan from the Chinese and dividing it up between every American to buy more stuff from China be considered a economic recovery plan.  Isn't this the same thinking that got us into this mess in the first place.  If we're going to borrow more lets at least put it into roads, rails, and infastructure so that future generations will have something of value for their money.  

We are using the "rebate" towards next year's preschool tuition, so I don't have to worry half way through the year, where will I find an extra $250/month.

Sorry Dubya. Well might give some to Barack Obama. As Michael Bloomberg says, we need an adult in the White House.