David Thomas: “The idea here is to, first of all, ease the bureaucratic burden of trying to respond to millions of people who are…”

“The idea here is to, first of all, ease the bureaucratic burden of trying to respond to millions of people who are inevitably going to call. I know the gentleman from Massachusetts believes he is of average intelligence, and, therefore, most other people would assume all of those things he assumed. All of us here on the floor know, and I will tell everyone else, the gentleman from Massachusetts is not of average intelligence; he is extremely intelligent and perceptive. And I guess the concern is that if not everyone matches his ability to understand, interpret and relate, that somehow it is a sinister political motive to notify people of the consequences, the time and the amount of the check return. It is not a rebate. It is money which is a lump sum payment in lieu of withholding adjustment. So people would kind of wonder, what is it that I am getting? And, gee, this letter says that it is in fact not something that you will have to worry about. You will not be required to report the amount of this as taxable income on your Federal tax return. And, by the way, it provides a convenient receipt for you if in fact your State or lesser municipality has tax consequences in terms of Federal money.”