Illegal Immigrants to Receive Rebate Funds Too! Remember Folks, You Read it Here First!

Remember last week when I was a bit critical of our Lawmakers use of the word "REBATE" referring to the economic stimulus handout coming not to soon to a mailbox near you?  [Link] I said, fully intending it to be somewhat tongue in cheek,

"For those who did not pay any income tax, you will be receiving a "Hand-Out" of $300.00 negotiated by the "Government knows best" Socialist Democratic Party Leaders Infamous.  As a purchase of your vote in the upcoming election.  Negotiations are still in process to insure that all "Undocumented Residents" are compensated as well (remember, your vote matters too!)..."

I meant that as a somewhat sarcastic stab at our nation's Socialist Democrat party and their willingness to "Accept" not just "Tolerate" every special interest known to man and beast (and vegetable and mineral... many of which are voting members of the Democrat party too.) And cater accordingly.

Well, fast forward to today and the following headline from the Politico:

Lou Dobbs alert: Illegal immigrants may get rebates

"In their bipartisan zeal to quickly cut a deal on an economic stimulus bill, GOP lawmakers overlooked something that will certainly inflame the conservative base _ illegal immigrants could receive a tax rebate check from the government.

The text of the House passed bill contains language making "non resident aliens"  -illegal immigrants-  ineligible for the tax rebates. But every year, hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants use individual taxpayer identification numbers, known as ITINs, to file income tax returns with the IRS. These ID numbers are used instead of Social Security numbers. There are no exact statistics for how many illegal immigrants file tax returns, but this New York Times story from last year details the significant increase in use of ITINs.  This story also lays out the issue.

Immigration advocates point out that many legal immigrants use ITINs, so it would be impossible to outlaw rebates for everyone who uses this form of ID in tax returns.

And our Colorado Representative Ken Salazar expressed the following, illustrating his complacency relating to Illegal Immigration in the United States:

"The reality is that those who filed a tax return will be eligible" for tax rebates of $600 to $1,200, said Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.). "This [issue] has not been addressed" by the senators writing the bill.

Wow!  This is screwed up in so many ways!   A humorous metaphor escapes me.

Comments

[Ginger]

Tommy,

While unfortunately your favorite sport appears to be supporting those left of extreme left even they have to take some responsibility once in a while.

This is not an IRS problem but everyone's problem. Part of the downfall of this country is our need to find a way to shift issues onto someone else's plate and call it their problem in an attempt to ditch any blame or responsibility for ourselves. The IRS unfortunately follows this path by saying that immigration control is not their job. If you choose to live in this country then everything that goes on here is your job and responsibility not just the pieces you pick and choose. It's not my job/responsibility seems to have become the newest catch phrase for the 21st century and everyone seems willing to jump on that bandwagon. No issue is too big to tackle and that type of attitude is what leads people to always taking the easy way out. Some issues just take longer to resolve I think would be a much better statement which means that we in turn have less time to procrastinate on addressing them.

While I can't argue with some of your statements such as they should not have been given them in the first place, you might recall that when ITIN's were established in the first place in 1996 the sitting president was a Democrat by the name of Clinton. How repetitive, Republicans needing to clean up Democratic messes. Therefore no spin was required by John to show the Dems in a bad light and thanks for reminding me I left out the hippies in my previous post:)

[Tom Walker]

"But every year, hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants use individual taxpayer identification numbers, known as ITINs, to file income tax returns with the IRS."

I know your favorite sport is bashing anyone left of extreme right, but this is an IRS problem. Illegal's should not be issued ITIN in the first place. The problem is there's no easy way to tell if someone with an ITIN is legal or not because once it's issued it's just a number. So basically the IRS will issue refunds to anyone that's used an ITIN to pay taxes, and if the Repubs wanted to do anything about it you can expect a multi-year audit and census to make any headway. The folks at the counter or phone bank that issue ITIN's in the first place are probably about as well trained as our Elite TSA Agents In Charge Of Shoe Removal. None of this surprises me, but none of it is a result of this bill.

This is why the issue "has not been addressed". It's too big to tackle, especially for an economic quick-fix, and it's the IRS you're dealing with.

Ken Salazar is stating the truth, he may or may not be happy about it, but there's nothing he could write in to a bill now to fix it.

I'm disappointed John, you didn't even really try to spin this to properly blame the Dems/Commies/Hippies/Friends-and-Neighbors!

[Ginger]

I have to admit to a little curiosity as to the people saying they want to pay taxes because they feel it is their responsibility, they want to be good citizens or just obey the law.

If so, why were they not filing these before they thought it might buy them a quick ticket to citizenship? By the same token if the reason they were not is they were scared that they would be caught in the country ILLEGALLY then they obviously were not real concerned with the above stated platitudes such as obeying the law at that time were they?

I am finding the level at which this country is willing to sink to pander to a bunch of pansies who call themselves Americans/Democrats/Socialists/Communists (same difference)disappointing, disgusting, and appalling. I continue to feel the same way about those who are stupid enough to continue to elect those who push for these types of allowances. Americans need to get it together and grow a pair. If you want to come live here, great, then do it legally like others do and you might gain a little respect instead of dragging down those who actually try to obey the law.

I am tired to death of working hard and paying taxes so that they can reap the benefits without doing the work. I would not expect to ever go to another country and have them give me handouts or support me. Of course that might be because no other country is stupid and self destructive enough to do it to themselves like we are.

We don't need to worry about terrorist attacks. They could just sit back and watch us implode on our own without ever lifting a finger if they were patient enough. We certainly continue to prove every day that we are well on the way to doing so.