Well, to be fair, the Scots do get their money free; they're all on the dole and import it from the English tax payer.

What a joke this article is!

"enabling nearly every single taxpayer to get a £300 cheque in the post."

Hardly. Many who file returns but have no tax liability will receive a check. On the flip side, those who pay a great deal in taxes will get nothing because they earn too much. Call it welfare, income redistribution, whatever, but it's wrong to call it an income tax rebate when checks go to those who don't pay income taxes.

"If names be not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of things. If language be not in accordance with the truth of things, affairs cannot be carried on to success.

"When affairs cannot be carried on to success, properties and music do not flourish. When properties and music do not flourish, punshments will not be properly awarded. When punishments are not properly awarded, the people do not know how to move hand and foot.

"Therefore a superior man considers it necessary that the names he uses may be spoken appropriately, and also that what he speaks may be carried out appropriately. What the superior man requires is just that in his words there may be nothing incorrect.
. . . . . . . . .
"If language is not correct, then what is said is not what is meant. If what is said is not what is meant, then what must be done remains undone. If this remains undone, morals and art will deteriorate; if justice goe astray, the people wll stand about in helpless confusion. Hence, there must be no arbitrariness in what is said: this matters above everything."

Confucious

Of course Orwell dealt with this in his celebrated essay on language and politics.

As Ronald Reagan put it, "It's not their money."

I think this guy is angling for some lolly.

It is not a tax rebate when people who haven't paid taxes are getting a check.

It is not a tax rebate when not all of the people who have paid tax are getting a check.

It is not a stimulus for our economy when most of the funds will wind up, through Hillary's friends at Walmart, in China.

It is not a stimulus for our economy in that I thought we had gotten past the old Keynesian theory of deficits stimulating the economy. We already have a $200 billion deficit-- how will more debt help?

If we are going to insist on burdening our children and grandchildren with more debt, the least we could do is build or repair some roads, or bridges, or help end our dependency on foreign oil by building more refineries or by slapping solar panels on every flat roof in America-- something that will help the next generation.

Anyone receiving this check should know what it is-- a welfare check drawn on our children's checking account.

This isn't just sour grapes--and on other sites I've received a lashing that anyone earning over $75,000 "doesn't need" a rebate. That's not the point. If the government is doling out a check based on "need"--then guess what? That's welfare. And they should have the guts to call it what it is.

Shame on every politician that supports this wasteful giveaway, and shame on every person who cashes the check.

Shame on Tony, communism is a stillborn (or an abortion) - neither fly here.

Tony, It has nothing to do with stimulating anything. The media are fomenting economic unrest and trying to get people to panic. Figuring out how to spent their checks will give them something else to think about. You think it's a coincidence that $1,200 nicely corresponds to a large screen TV, a new refrigerator or a couple of other appliances?

Such are the games the president needs to play to keep the kids occupied so he can complete his term and hand over the White House to the new occupant in good working order, unlike how he found it when he took office.