The Silver Screen Oasis

I know it Tax Season. But some get rebates. What one thing are you looking forward to buy with the extra (if any) money you get?

I FINALLY purchased a DVR (woo-woo) with a 80 gig Hard drive. So I won't miss the great films TCM plays during the daytime hours while I'm at work.

vallo

I am getting back $ 3.43 from the State of Illinois. Now I can buy another Italian Beef, just what I need.

Well Ken, LIVE IT UP!!!

vallo wrote:Well Ken, LIVE IT UP!!!

Thank You ! But I will be getting over 700 bucks from the Feds.

Well Ken123,

I got you beat - I get $3.00 (even) from Illinois, and ziltch from the Feds. Can't afford to have anything taken out of my SSA check. Last year at the beginning of 2006 a letter came from my pension company saying Illinois insisted on them taking out state tax unless expressly denied by the retiree. They got that denial letter by air mail!

Would you believe Illinois sent me a check for $0.80 last year?

This is something a friend and I were talking about. Why do you have to put postage on government papers (your IRS return), going to a government office, when it is a mandatory annual mailing?

Anne

mrsl wrote: This is something a friend and I were talking about. Why do you have to put postage on government papers (your IRS return), going to a government office, when it is a mandatory annual mailing?

Anne

Different agencies. The Post Office isn' really part of the federal government.

But that's how John Payne proved Edmund Gwinn was the real Santa Claus! Are you trying to break my belief in a miracle that happened on 34th street? Shame on you!!

The Post Office isn't really part of the federal government.

Well, yes and no. As an ex-letter carrier, let me try to explain.

The US Post Office used to be a government agency -- and the offfice of Postmaster General was a cabinet post, appointed by the President -- until the Postal Reorganization Act was passed in 1970 and created the US Postal Service as an independent agency the following year. Under that act, The Postal Service no longer received funding from the federal government, and had to raise its own revenues through the sale of stamps and other services. A Postal Board of Governors was established that appointed one of its members the Postmaster General, since that position was no longer a cabinet post.

This isn't a perfect comparison, but the US Postal Service functions like an independent contractor with the federal government, with some unique distinctions. That agency is the only one sanctioned by the government to accept and deliver the nation's mail. The unionized members enjoy the benefits of other trade unions (the National Association of Letter Carriers, established in 1889, is the oldest trade union in the country), except that members are not allowed to go on strike. Where registered mail is concerned, letter carriers serve as government couriers in a way.

As you can see, a complex relationship exists between the federal government and the USPS. I don't understand it all, and I know more that the average layman. All that aside, I spent five years with the USPS, and it was the toughest job I ever loved.

By the way, I got back $73 and change from the Feds, almost double what I normally get, thanks to the federal telephone excise tax rebate. That, and $35 from the state of Ohio, went right into my savings account.

However, I think I may need another suit for work in the coming months . . .