My understanding is that under the stimulus package, the federal government will pay 65% of COBRA premiums for employees laid of in 2009, for the first nine months of unemployment/uncovered employment. I know a number of people who are receiving benefits under the COBRA subsidy.

I think that the federal government is also paying supplementary unemployment benefits for laid-off workers, to the tune of $25/week, but this may just be a rumor. I'm not sure about this one.

If the stimulus manages to stave off the threatened 25% increase in subway fare, I'll be very, very happy.

I think that the federal government is also paying supplementary unemployment benefits for laid-off workers, to the tune of $25/week, but this may just be a rumor. I'm not sure about this one.

This is correct. I believe the amount of time you can collect was also increased.

I'm a grad student beyond my guaranteed funding. Next year was looking very grim for funding (because they were cutting funds for teaching the gen ed classes that I typically teach as part of a huge cut in state contribution to the state university system). It's now looking quite a bit better that the funding for teaching gen ed classes will be available next year.

I'm not sure whether this should count as a direct impact on my life yet...though I certainly am sleeping better now.

Parks are improved & maintained; roadwork continues apace. Dogs & I are grateful.

Glad y'all got tax and fee cuts; I became very aware of paying for other people's sick kids this month. But I been paying for other people's marriages & kids my entire life. Aw hell, an bailouts and wars and whatever.

It just felt weird to get focused on at my sub-sub-six figure level.

My net pay went up about $60 a month under the new withholding rates.

That's an eighth right there!

You're overpaying, Sifu.

I demand quality.

Actually it occurs to me that those are [ not current location ] prices.

An eighth and some porn mags, then!

Back in the day, say around 1980 I used to go thru a 1/4 pound of sense or Hawaiian in a week for oh $300, or 1/4 oz of black hash for $150. Hard for me to imagine that much improvement in quality. Wouldn't matter, whatever it was I would sit and smoke til it was gone, in search of, ya know, whatever an abuser seeks. Which is why I quit.

I hate how much pot is on my mind every day, even after nearly thirty years.

I'm pretty sure Apo makes more than $480/mo, Sifu.

My brother got laid off, and he described the stimulus as having a significantly positive effect on him. There's the COBRA subsidy. They also increased the size of unemployment checks, and increased the amount of time they'll pay unemployment.

In "Please Do My Taxes For Me" news, does anything in the stimulus affect 2008 taxes? I'll be doing my own, and although my incredibly low-income year should set me in good stead, I'd sure hate to miss anything.

Yes, yes, Turbotax, whatever. I'm resolutely old-fashionedstupid.

Some stimulus funds are being made easier to track than others.

The stimulus money apparently means lots of funding for research institutes associated with certain schools of urban planning and public policy. Or so I hear.

The stimulus money may well mean the kind of labs I'd like to apply to will have more cash, which would be neat.

I'm pretty sure Apo makes more than $480/mo, Sifu.

People sneer at poolboys and dogwalkers, but dom of them get up into the low six figures. You have to be good at it though.

You have to be good at it though.

Reminds me, come May I am babysitting two Labs for a week. Y'all wants Flickers of lil' Bob walking 250 lbs on four leashes?

18: Absolutely.

does anything in the stimulus affect 2008 taxes?

I've been working on mine. Two things I noticed:

First, on the Schedul D worsheet for capital gains and dividend income, a serious tax rate reduction at the lower end.

Second, when you get to line 70 on your 1040 you may get a few hundred dollar credit as a 'recovery rebate credit'.

For me, it means that after the government's economic policies cost me an amount of capital I'd figured would be good for about $8k a year in income for the rest of my life, I get a few hundred off my taxes. Whoopee. So would all you folks go out there and reinflate the equities bubble, please? Don't buy food, buy mutual funds. You can't lose.

Warning: I don't even use turbotax. I use a calculator and the instructions, and I copy out the final tax return using my fountain pen. So I may be way incorrect.

The bank bailout money (not the stimulus) is flowing in a big way to my community, the community of contingent fee attorneys who sue banks. For unknown reasons, Bank of America set aside more that 1 of the 20 or so billion it received to settle pending litigation against it or the companies it recently acquired. My firm has a piece of the piece that is small to Bank of America but very large to us.

I applied for a grant for a $460k instrument, our group is also applying for a $750k instrument, and many people I work with are applying for Challenge Grants. Aside from having to write them, we won't see any effects until the fall at the earliest.

I am babysitting two Labs for a week. Y'all wants Flickers of lil' Bob walking 250 lbs on four leashes?

Fontana Labs is probably close to 250 all by himself, Bob.

My son has just announced that I owe him $450 incurred last summer, long forgotten. Not the formal stimulus package, just a little DIY action.

Y'all wants Flickers of lil' Bob walking 250 lbs on four leashes?

I do.

There's the First-time Homebuyer Tax Credit. Not a real tax credit, as we bought the house in June '08 - just an interest-free loan of $7500 to be repaid over 15 years. Still, something. We'll earn some interest in a CD and it'll be mad money if things ain't working out here. Plus, if we sell the house at a loss, the credit will cover the diffference. Better than nothing, but if we'd waited until '09 it would have been eight grand and no payback. Plus, by that point the house would've been a couple thousand bucks cheaper. Goes to show something something.

more time on unemployment before it runs out, which i may well need.

I was hoping that I might wheedle my way into some of the weatherization-type stuff, but, as of right now, it looks like it will mostly be handled internally by frex the Housing Authority. But it wouldn't surprise me if I get a job where the client gets $$ from a program that gets a little extra stimulus boost.