Economic Stimulus or Government Scam?

Everyone was starting to get excited as the various news organizations reported that our economic stimulus checks were just around the corner. With an economy slugging along and consumer confidence at an all time low, everyone was looking forward to that extra three hundred dollars, while parents were looking forward to more, to help get out, cover some of their debts, or just jolt the economy forward by getting that money back into circulation. Although it is up for debate whether or not the $300 promised to American taxpayers months ago will still help the economy in its current state, an entirely new issue has begun to arise as some people are realizing that, as with most tax issues, the money isn't as clearly cut or even as "theirs" as initially promised.

Consider the case of Robert McDaniel, a homeowner who still owes some money to the IRS. An extra three hundred dollars would do wonders to help him be able to get out and buy a little, to jump start consumer spending, or even just let him cover some of his other expenses to help him get to the IRS spending. Unfortunately, he has been informed that there will be no economic stimulus check for him, as the amount he owes the IRS exceeds $300, and therefore, to help cover those debts, they are simply keeping the money.

This type of thing has apparently been affecting thousands of Americans, as the promised money is simply being kept by the government, in effect reversing everything that the original plan was intended for. With a credit based economy resulting in debts burying American families, the promised money was supposed to be the kind of cash in pocket bonus that would allow someone to pay any of their bills, or even simply buy a luxury, or even food, item, outside of their normal pay checks.

Unfortunately this isn't the case for many Americans.

What's worse is that the promised transparency of the stimulus checks is becoming increasingly muddied, an occurrence not entirely unsurprising with IRS involvement, as families are not receiving the simple $300 or $600 they were promised, as some are even reporting across blogs and message boards that they received in the $150 range, complaining that the fine print actually stated they were eligible for up to $300.

Therefore, it is fast appearing that what should have been a simple cash-in hand for American families has been caught onto by the IRS and other government institutions, that are using the chance to fundamentally transform the stimulus checks into everything they were not meant to be.

Watch out for your checks.