Byron Dorgan: Tax Rebates Must Include Disabled Veterans, Seniors

And if you oppose including them, you’ll obviously be accused of hating disabled veterans and senior citizens.

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) said the rebate checks that are being proposed as part of Congress’ economic stimulus package must include rebates for senior citizens and disabled veterans. Both were left out of the version of the stimulus package negotiated by the White House and leaders of the U.S. House.
Dorgan said he’ll work to defeat a threatened filibuster against an alternate plan that would include the two groups.
Dorgan said the decision on whether to include seniors is especially important to North Dakota, which has the highest per-capita number of senior citizens over 85 years of age in the nation. The proposal to include seniors would ensure rebate checks go to an estimated 88,000 North Dakotans age 65 and older.
“Many senior citizens live on very low incomes. If we’re going to try to stimulate the economy, it would be wrong to provide rebates to 117 million Americans and leave out some 20 million senior citizens, many of whom would very much need those rebate checks,” Dorgan said.

If all of these politicians are going to insist on giving “tax rebates” to people who pay little or no federal taxes, while simultaneously opposing giving those very same rebates to more affluent Americans who pay a lot of federal taxes, can we just be honest and start calling these “rebates” what they are?
Which is a big, fat handout from the government aimed at buying the love of a citizenry that isn’t exactly happy with our political leadership in general.