Economy

Like many other Americans, my husband and I have been struggling to make ends meet, from the rising prices at the grocery store to the skyrocketing price of gas it just seems harder than ever to stretch our dollar. So we were really excited to hear about the rebate checks the government was planning to send out to stimulate the economy and help out during this recession ( not a word George Bush chose to use on his speech last week), we didn't have big plans for this money, we weren't gonna go on vacation, or buying a new TV, not even new clothes, we were gonna simply catch up on bills and put the rest in the bank for using later for paying more bills and groceries.

After filing for it (jointly) we waited, and waited and waited, finally my husband called IRS last week and was told something we could not believe, we did not qualify for it, because I don't have a social security number yet, my husband was sure this must be a mistake, he thought maybe the person he spoke to on the phone was misinformed or confused or simply stupid, how could this be, my husband is a legal resident, has been for more than six years, our two children are American citizens, and I have been on the immigration process for more than five years, this had to be a mistake.

Well, it wasn't a mistake, it's true, according to a news article on yahoo (link below) the IRS made it a rule that nobody with a foreign spouse without a social security number would qualify for this rebate, in order to prevent "illegals" to get the money, I guess fearing they would spend it on their own country instead of the US.

I understand the reasoning behind this rule, and it really wouldn't be fair for the money to go to other countries when it's meant to somehow restore the economy of the USA, but at the same time, I think is unfair that many hard working legal immigrants like my husband cannot benefit from something like this when it's not his fault (or mine) that the legalization process takes so long. We like everybody else, live in the US, spend our money here, and pay taxes here, maybe IRS should've thought this through a little better.

As you can read in the news article, not only "Mexicans" will be affected by this, but many "All American" military man and woman, who put their life at risk everyday for our country will suffer the consequences as well if their spouses are like me on the long immigration process.

Maybe I don't deserve $600 dls. even if I was going to spend them here, but I think my husband who works hard every day to put a roof over my head, and my children, who are just like any other American children, deserve what every one else is getting.

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_on_bi_ge/storytext/tax_rebates_left_out/27431478/SIG=10kt0t3ql/*http://www.irs.gov


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080511/ap_on_bi_ge/tax_rebates_left_out