Wednesday, April 1, 2009 | 2 a.m.
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If you haven’t noticed it yet, look for an extra $11 a week in your paycheck, starting today, thanks to President Barack Obama and supporters in Congress.
Nearly 1 million Nevadans should start receiving extra cash as part of the president’s $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. In hard-hit Nevada, Democratic Rep. Dina Titus said the tax credit will “put money back in the pockets of Nevada’s workers immediately.”
“During this tough economic time, this boost in workers’ paychecks can have a big impact on families struggling to make ends meet,” Titus said.
The tax credit of $400 annually per worker or $800 for each working couple took effect as soon as the bill was signed into law in mid-February. Employers had until today to begin making the change in workers’ paychecks.
Rather than a lump sum, like the $600 stimulus checks Congress gave workers last year, this credit will boost paychecks throughout the year.
Workers qualify until they earn $75,000 annually ($150,000 for couples), when the credit will begin to be phased out. The credit is not available for higher wage earners — those making $95,000 annually or $190,000 for couples.
For the remaining nine months of this year, the $400 amounts to a maximum of about $11 a week. The new credit will continue again through 2010. Spread across the entire year, however, the maximum weekly amount will fall under $8.
Four hundred dollars a year “might not seem to most people very much,” Sen. Harry Reid, the majority leader, said Tuesday. “It might mean a person could buy over the year several more bags of groceries, fill your tank with gasoline quite a few extra times, maybe buy a lot of supplies for the kids, maybe even clothes for the family.”
Nevadans will welcome the extra cash. The state is among the hardest hit in the recession. Unemployment stands at 10 percent. Nevada has the nation’s top housing foreclosure rate, and personal bankruptcy filings are at an all-time high.
Economists say dollars given directly to those who need them most have some of the biggest bang for the buck. They create a multiplier effect as they are quickly spent in the economy.
A spokesman for the Internal Revenue Service suggests taxpayers visit the agency’s Web site at www.irs.gov to estimate their withholding. You don’t want to end up owing Uncle Sam next April.
The recovery bill was approved along party lines in the House, with Titus and Rep. Shelley Berkley voting in favor. Republican Rep. Dean Heller joined every single House Republican in voting no.
In the Senate, Reid voted for the bill. Republican Sen. John Ensign voted against.






Let me see, we spent $3333.00 per person in the United States just on the stimulus bill but worker's with jobs get $11 a week. wonderful.
If harry Reid was concerned about workers he would quit taking orders from Nancy Pelosi.
Does anybody know a good heart doctor? I don't know if my heart will be able to take this much stimulation! Actually I think a proctologist will be needed.
I want to thank Barroch Bobama for the change.
I want to thank Prince Harry Reed for his patriotic assisstance. I believe every word they say now.
"Four hundred dollars a year "might not seem to most people very much," Sen. Harry Reid, the majority leader, said Tuesday. "It might mean a person could buy over the year several more bags of groceries, fill your tank with gasoline quite a few extra times, maybe buy a lot of supplies for the kids, maybe even clothes for the family.""
Way to go Harry, recession over!!
Bad Reid
Bad Senator
http://aBadReid.com
It's a TAX CUT. Not a "raise" from your boss, people. You might have to stimulate yourselves.
when gas prices go up 50 cents per gallon, that $11 will be gone.
we went from capitalism to socialism for $11.
thanks, liberals.
Thanks Liberals ... this will go along we each month. Maybe, I can stretch it out a bit to cover my DirecTv bill.
CAnnnt typeeee ttoototo stim stim stimulated!
Woooeeeee.....$11.......McDonalds...Happy Meals.....
It is small even when look at on a macro scale.
It will have a tiny stimulate effect.
On the long term will might have an negative stimulate effect.
We are borrowing that money on the backs our of children.
So when you do buy the Happy Meal be sure to thank your children.
So the government will either have to issue Federal bonds or just print money.
Printing money devalues the dollar and makes the cost of all goods and services go up.
Issuing bonds crowds out money that be investing into private companies like casinos. It also makes the cost of borrowing for all to go up.
Thanks...Obama/Reid/Titus/Democrats....keep up the wonderful work that you are doing.
Just a FYI, Obama/Reid/Titus/Democrats raise taxes on tobacco so $11 will help pay for that.
Obama wants to raise taxes on the electrical power that you use. The $11 will help pay for that.
Nevada state Democrats will radical raise taxes so $11 will help pay for that.
That nets out the so call "stimulate" effect.
In fact, the state taxes will be more than $11 per person. So the state Democrats are going for the anti-stimulate effect.
$11 is pretty lame. Why not either give those who need it more or here's a good idea, use the money to FIX THE HOUSING CRISIS! If they would taken care of the housing issue in the beginning, this would all be over already.
neiman1 George Bush gave the working class three hundred dollar tax rebates for a year, that equates to $5.76 a week while the wealthy got almost one million dollar tax rebates. You make a fool of yourself daily.
fremmasmind,abad reid,stevem,tansummers,LV4LIFE,jfnance, I'll bet you all took Bush's three hundred dollars that was really $5.76 a week.That is if you work and don't ride your skateboard all day like neiman1 George Bush's lackey and nit wit. The stupidity runs deep here.
homer, it was 600 per person, 1200 if married, and 300 per child. get real.
err, that came out wrong. it was 600, 1200 if married, and 300 per child.
$11 - wow! I can buy a couple of GM and Chrysler stocks.
Neither the Bush tax credit or the Obama tax credit will/did much for the economy.
For Bush there was a tiny bump in retail sales.
For Obama's, it might help WalMart and McDonalds that will be just about it.
I believe Obama's $400 tax credit equals to about .005 percent of the GDP on a macro scale.
So the kool-aid drinkers like homer thinks that is a grand tax credit.
It is just a publicity stunt by Obama to claim that he gave tax credits to 95% of voters.
It is silly and all it really does it add more to the debt that our children will have to deal with.
Be sure to say thank you to your children when you buy some Happy Meals with that $11.
Nance and comrades are apparently looking to the government to give them alot of money to make their lives better and buy more cheeseburgers at McDonalds. I got news for you folks. The American people can't afford to give themselves any more of their own money back, because the Obama Administration is frantically trying to shore up the MESS OF YOUR HERO'S MAKING. I don't care how you parse it, Nance. On W's watch, we got into DEEEEEP DOOO-DOOOOO.
Blame it on whomever, but the majority of Americans are aware of who was "THE DECIDER" when this mess went down.
Quit your insessant bitching on the subject and get to work!
This isn't a tax cut either, it's a change in the witholdings formula. At the end of the year you are still paying the SAME taxes as before; instead of getting a refund in one lump sum next spring you are now going to get $11 of that in short term spurts. If you recieve(d) a refund less than $400 this year (I did) then you quite possibly will end up paying taxes next April 15th because of this whereas prior you would have gotten a small return...
Not that I think it's a bad idea; its just in time for the tax rate on tobacco to go up over $.70 a pack. I don't use the junk, but most people who this will help the most are going to more than triple the $11 in taxes they pay on their fix.
Bush's $600 wasn't much better. Anyone who relies on the government to help them out is just setting themselves up for failure IMO, Obama isn't going to save you any more than Bush wasn't....
It seems like some people want to have it both ways.
jfNance32 whines about paying higher taxes on tobacco, then whines about getting a tax rebate.
People like that cannot be reasoned with. They are inherently unreasonable.
"It will buy gas, food and power. My government is responding to my needs in a small way that directly impacts my life." - airweare
LOL. Don't spend it all in one place. I do agree with you on one thing, this will certainly inpact your life, it just might not be in the way you were hoping. I hope you enjoy all the "gas, food, and power" you're going to buy with that eleven bucks.
I gonna put in a penny slot
I'm going to buy cigarettes.
Obama is pathetic.
Broke his tax pledge within 30 days of taking office.
Now he is bragging about giving people $11 a week.
He is an idiot and those who think he is doing a great job can't be that smart either.
Hey come on you republicans......it's a TAX CUT..........it's all that the GOP has for an idea or plan, and Obama beat you to it.
That's $400+ less taxes on the year!!
If the GOP had come up with this they'd be hailed as heros and you'd all be in a circle jerk of euphoria!
What do you right wing nut cases want? Bush spent all the money on an illegal war and lining his own pockets. He left Obama the largest mess in US history. Get real, take responsibility for yourselves and quit looking for a hand out that your boy spent.
JNance; tsk, tsk. getting a little out of control there, big fella. Calling the President a "pathetic idiot". NOT NICE. And not very adult of you either, but then... well, you know. Of course, YOU, NANCE, are so far superior to this man who is our President. Tell us a little bit about yourself, and what makes YOU, NANCE, so extraordinary, that you are in a position to call Obama a "pathetic idiot".
I can't wait! You must be very "special"!
I think poor ol' nance is as dicombobulated as the GOP currently is........a rudderless/leaderless mess, with no idea or plans, reduced to comedic fits of inane proportions.
What amazes me is how the "conservatives" all of a sudden get a mass case of selective memory!
A $20.00 electric bill?! Where?
"And the sooner we get a living wage for people the better."
We shouldn't have to "get" a living wage for people. People should go get a living wage for themselves. The way they do it is through ambition, education, training, initiative and hard work. I could not live off of the $3.15/hr I made in my first minimum wage job. That's a huge incentive to stick with education until one has a marketable degree and/or skill.
Be free people. Create your own "change" and make it the change you actually want rather than the change that Washington forces on you. Don't buy the party lines that we can create wealth by taking the wealth of others, or that we can spend our way out of debt.
If you are in your 20's or older and still making near minimum wage, then it is time to grow up, pull on the big boy or big girl pants, and put together a plan as to how you are going to get a real job.
Oh, and for anyone still paying attention, the $11 is not a tax cut. The $11 is coming out of next year's tax return. You are just getting this chump change earlier. There is no tax cut!
gqbossing, that's what I was afraid of - so since I owed $800 this year I guess I can expect to owe what, $1200 on my next filing? And all for the sake of a stinkin' $11 ??? Please, KEEP the lousy $11 - it doesn't do me OR the economy very much good when it's doled out in dribs and drabs only to have to pay it back in one lump sum next April 15th - actually, I was thinking of asking my employer to keep my 'claim' number at 0 and to take an extra $20 so I can at least break even. What a joke this is - if the government wants to extra money to have any meaning they're gonna have to lower the actual tax rate - if not this will only come back to bite me next year.
"Actually, eleven bucks a week pays for most of my gas, food and power"
LOL......$11 pays for your gas + food + power?????
Are you Obama's brother that lives on $10 a month in a shack in Africa?
Huh. Criticize Obama increasing taxes. Criticize Obama returning tax money. Criticizing Obama's family...
Your absolute hatred of Obama and everything Obama does is completely unhinged, jfNance32.
Look for the $11 bucks in your next PAYCHECK, unless you don't get one. Of course the 3 million Obama jobs are coming. And another positive, unemployment benefits have been extended. I understand Obama wants to open welfare offices on Saturdays. See it's getting better all the time.
Hey Homer, I bet you feel like a real big man now after your comment. Sure I'll take what's given to me. So you want me to be happy about what? Remember we all make a living wage unless we sell a product and make a profit off of it. Taxes do not apply to us. We pay them anyway. Check out Aaron Russos' "Freedom to Fascism". Learn!
"Buys me lunch for 4 days with an extra fruit and two sodas per day.
Its not a lot but it helps! And the sooner we get a living wage for people the better."
First of all LasaVegas2009, I am sorry that your choices in either career or education have made it so you can't demonstrate your worth to an employer which would allow you to earn your "living wage." I guess it really is pathetic to have no ambition or ability...
But beyond that let's take a look at what I'm sure you agreed with last year, the wise woman Michelle Obama said the following: http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2... ""You're getting $600," she told an audience of mostly African-American women here. "What can you do with that? Not to be ungrateful or anything. But maybe it pays down a bill, but it doesn't pay down every bill every month."
"Barack's approach is that the short-term quick fix kinda stuff sounds good," she continued. "And it may even feel good that first month when you get that check. And then you go out and you buy a pair of earrings," she joked."
I guess such measures are only acceptable when they are enacted by His Messiahness.
Personally I am going to take the tax cut and run because it is my money in the first place, but really 11-15 bucks a week? Seriously, most of you all were whining about last year's stimulus. I guess it is only good when your party proposes it. (Much like your general whiny attitude to governance. Whaaaa filibusters are good when we are in the minority, but not anymore.) Lump sums just make more sense. Even if that money goes into savings (which is what a lot of you whined caused a failure of the last stimulus) or even if it paid down a chunk of a credit card it freed up other money (in a more significant chunk) than 11-15 bucks a week will.
Why was $600 stupid last year but $11 a week is brilliant this year? Oh I get it, you liberal whiners can't stand it when you are in the minority and are willing to do anything possible to get back into power. Once there you enact the same proposals you criticized and call it awesome.
gee lets see $11.00 seems as if you get some extra everyone complains gee if you got nothing everyone would still complain just cant make anyone happy these days life goes on
Obama has doubled the deficit in 60 days a great accomplishment. Now our great great grand children can pay for this. Once we got to the position of 49% of the people paying all the taxes you know it will go down hill from there. 60% of the people will want 40% to pay all the taxes, then 99% of the people will want 1% of the people to pay all the taxes, the 1% will leave the country and then where will we be.
Interesting to see the rest of the world is making fun of Obama's economic plans and basically laughing at him ... of course, MSNBC, NBC, CBS, CNN and ABC won't cover it.
Someone should set up a grande steel cage battle royale match for regular sun posters.
How is it "We The People" get a $572.00 per year tax deferment, but our Democrat controlled Congress get's $4700.00 pay raise?
Avg_joe, haven't you figured out yet that the real 2 party system is basically the 'haves' and the 'have-nots'?? We're supposed to feel what, grateful? To begin with whenever the government GIVES BACK any of OUR money I look at it for what it is - a hand-BACK - some look at it as a hand-OUT. Until someone rich fat cat in the government dips into his or her OWN POCKET I will continue to see it my way - only when they give me their OWN MONEY will I consider it a hand-OUT (and I am not asking for nor expecting ANY hand-outs). Why is it that when the government wants to constantly take more and more of our money - be it in the form of higher taxes or bail-outs that people look it one way and yet when people aren't pleased with the amount of THEIR OWN MONEY the government is doling out to us (in dribs/drabs) people look at it another way - and call people ungrateful (and worse) because they're not happy with the amount of THEIR OWN MONEY the government so graciously (sarcasm of course) deems to bestow upon us.
As for me - well I don't want the stinkin' $11 if it's gonna mean I have to pay EVEN MORE than I paid this year come next April 15th.
jfnance predicted McCain would win the election. He makes alot of ridiculous statements and when he can't b.s.people he insults them. He reminds people of the big mouth trouble making kid in school that everyone finally had enough of and kicked his butt. In person nance is a sissy and would not raise his voice,but when he is at his computer he is a tough guy. Nance Bush lost get over yourself.
fremmasamind, Anyone who mocks someone by intentionally misspelling their name is juvenile. You seem to very juvenile.So you work for a living and pay taxes. So?
homer can't get his facts straight.
"jfnance predicted McCain would win the election"
I never did this.
Prove it.
You are lazy. You should not make up stuff.
i live under poverty,paycheck to paycheck. pay my taxes.no health insurence. cant get food stamps,cant get health assitance,and along comes this 11 bucks a week! it just may help pay my tax bill this year? Im not so sure Americans relize just what kind of man thats in office? Or his clowns,ie: REID,AND PELOSI! There ideas are gonna bankrupt this country in less than 10 years!!!
"$20 covers my electric bill; thirty covers all my food; five a month gets the gas."
You eat $1 a day for food???
You only travel some 40 miles a month???
What you do run at your house? One light blub?
Actually I think a proctologist will be needed.
I did go see my proctologist and he just told me to shove 2 aspirin up my butt and call him in the morning.
I think you went over your $20 dollar utility bill budget when you typed that last post.
Oats, potato salad and apple/pear with rice and beans .....that is less than $1???????
Also, are you a horse?
After 4 weeks of saving I will be able to afford that big bottle of the Crown Royal!!! Yay!
Nance you ought to put up a website and show the public what you look like in one of your dresses. Either that or quit this holier than now crap. Homo oops I mean Homer Who are you the comment patrol? I don't believe the government has taken away our freedom of speech, yet. However Bobama is setting steps into play with the World Bank. Not a very good mood for an American President. Where has all that American boldness and power gone? I guess it left when the Bush Administration let alot of our big businesses outsource good american jobs to other countries.
Sorry to give you the 411.
It sounds like you earn zero dollars now.
You will not get the $11 a week.
You will get zero dollars from Obama's tax credit.
To get the full $11/10 a week you have to earned at least $178 a week.
It is based on earned income.
So sorry that you will not get the big Obama grand windfall of $11 a week.
One more time - I DON'T WANT the extra money - KEEP IT - and hopefully next year I will finally break even on my taxes since claiming zero hasn't worked I want to have my employer WITHHOLD a little more - so please, KEEP THE STINKIN MONEY - I DON'T WANT IT - the little good it would do me now doesn't make up for the world of hurt I will be in next year if I wind up owing another $800 (or more) on April 15th. I wonder if there's anyway to stop a company from changing the withholding adjustment - probably not - the only way to combat it is to just redo the W2 form and have extra money withheld - like maybe 15.00 a week which is a few bucks more than what they want to give us now.
Oh ya,next year im gonna have to pay taxes on that extra 11 bucks! what a crock of poo !!!!!
I work for the MGM. This week the company raised the cost of health care premiums $10 a paycheck.
Nice to know that my "tax cut" is going to help bailout the top executives at MGM.
Just a little postscript to our "debate" here. How's that $11 working out for you. Oh, you might end up owing the government more?
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/INSIDE-WAS...
"WASHINGTON (AP) -- Millions of Americans enjoying their small windfall from President Barack Obama's "Making Work Pay" tax credit are in for an unpleasant surprise next spring.
"The government is going to want some of that money back.
"The tax credit is supposed to provide up to $400 to individuals and $800 to married couples as part of the massive economic recovery package enacted in February. Most workers started receiving the credit through small increases in their paychecks in the past month.
"But new tax withholding tables issued by the IRS could cause millions of taxpayers to get hundreds of dollars more than they are entitled to under the credit, money that will have to be repaid at tax time.
"At-risk taxpayers include a broad swath of the public: married couples in which both spouses work; workers with more than one job; retirees who have federal income taxes withheld from their pension payments and Social Security recipients with jobs that provide taxable income.
"The Internal Revenue Service acknowledges problems with the withholding tables but has done little to warn average taxpayers."