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Entry bubble What Happens to Recovery.gov Email?

By: Jake | March 02, 2009 | Category: General

American FlagLast week I mentioned that the White House had created a website to get feedback on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. One commenter asked if someone would actually read your email or if it would go into a "black hole." If you send an email to Recovery.gov you will be redirected to a web page that says:

"Thanks for contacting us. As we work towards economic recovery, we're counting on you to stay involved. Over the next few weeks and months, we'll be adding more and more information to Recovery.gov, so please check back often."

I asked someone who works on Recovery.gov what happens to the email people send. My contact there said people are reading the email submitted and it's their goal to respond to email submissions in the future. By the way, the White House website allows you to comment on other legislation like the DTV Delay Act of 2009 and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.

Have you noticed the White House blog? I've been watching and it's updated multiple times a day, and White House personnel have even live blogged during the first Middle Class Task Force meeting and the President's trip to Canada (which included photos). There is no comment feature on the blog. I know from personal experience that comment maintenance can be time-consuming, but most blogs have this function. The White House may have plans to add a comment section and perhaps they don't have the personnel for maintenance yet. It will be interesting to see what they do.

If you send an email to the White House do you expect a response? Would you like to see the White House allow comments on the blog? Tell us what you want.

| Post a Comment | View Comments [4] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: jake   recovery.gov   white_house_blog  

 

Entry bubble The American Recovery and Investment Act and You

By: Jake | February 23, 2009 | Category: Money

MoneyPresident Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law last Tuesday and shortly after he signed it the National Contact Center had people calling and emailing about getting a check because of the new law.

The law the President signed last week doesn't give anyone a stimulus payment or tax rebate check and it probably won't affect your 2008 income tax return. Even before the law was passed some people were already eligible for more 2008 stimulus payment money, specifically those who made less income in 2008 than in 2007. If this is your circumstance, you should check to see if you are eligible for the Recovery Rebate Credit.

About $288 billion of the $787 billion from the new law will be for tax relief. According to the Internal Revenue Service, there are two tax provisions in the law that could bring you some extra cash this year.

The "Making Work Pay" tax credit will give a refundable tax credit to individuals with an adjusted gross income up to $75,000 or $150,000 for married couples filing jointly. The credit will be applied to paychecks with tax withholdings, and you can calculate the amount for you here. Some people who receive benefits from the Social Security Administration, Veteran's Affairs and Railroad Retirement Board will receive an Economic Recovery Payment from the agency that grants their benefits.

Recovery.gov is where you can find out about where the other $499 billion will go. The White House has created a website to get your feedback on the law. What do you think of it? 

| Post a Comment | View Comments [4] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: economic_stimulus_payments   jake   rebate_check  

 

Entry bubble Nueva fecha para la transición a la televisión digital

By: Leilani | February 17, 2009 | Category: General

DTV.gov: Transición a la televisión digital

 

Ayer Jake escribió en este blog sobre la transición a la televisión digital. Encuentra a continuación la traducción de su entrada.

View the English-language version of this post

La buena noticia es que el Congreso y el Presidente movieron el plazo límite para la transición a la televisión digital. Las estaciones de televisión con señal analógica tendrán desde hoy 17 de febrero hasta el 12 de junio para hacer este cambio. Esta decisión fue tomada para que aquellos con televisores analógicos con antena tengan tiempo para recibir la señal digital. La mala noticia es que no todas las estaciones esperarán hasta el 12 de junio para terminar sus transmisiones análogas.

La Comisión Federal de Comunicaciones (FCC por su sigla en inglés) reporta que aproximadamente 600 de las 1800 estaciones de alta potencia planean terminar su transmisión analógica el día de hoy así que si tienes una televisión analógica y no tienes una caja convertidora notarás que no podrás ver algunos canales. A principios de la semana pasada la FCC publicó una lista de canales que querían terminar de transmitir en señal analógica hoy. Sin embargo, el viernes pasado la FCC le negó el permiso a 123 de estas estaciones a que hicieran el cambio. La FCC tomó esta medida para asegurarse que la gente que no está preparada para el cambio no pierda el acceso a información de seguridad pública y a las noticias locales. Estas estaciones pueden apelar la decisión de la FCC si certifican que tomarán otras medidas para ofrecerle al público alertas de seguridad y noticias.

Dos terceras partes de los canales continuarán transmitiendo en señal analógica. Para ver si tus canales locales terminarán de transmitir en señal analólogica, revisa la lista de estaciones de la FCC que harán el cambio en o antes del 17 de febrero. Si tu canal local no está en la lista, entonces tu canal local continuará transmitiendo en señal analógica.

Si tienes una televisión analógica y quieres saber como prepararte para el cambio, visita el artículo titulado "Prepárate para el cambio a la televisión digital" y mira el video al final de este blog. ¿Qué piensas sobre la decisión del Gobierno de aplazar la fecha límite? ¿Crees que es necesario aplazar la fecha o no?

| Post a Comment | View Comments [0] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: digital   dtv   espanol   español   jake   leilani   spanish   television   transicion  

 

Entry bubble Digital TV Transition Deadline Delay

By: Jake | February 16, 2009 | Category: General

DTV CartoonThe good news is that Congress and the President moved the analog to digital TV signal transition deadline that requires television stations to stop analog broadcast signals from February 17 (tomorrow) to June 12. They did this to give those with analog TVs some time to be able to receive digital signals. The bad news is that not all stations will wait until June 12 to end their analog broadcasts.

The Federal Communications Commission reports that approximately 650 of the 1800 full-power stations plan to end analog broadcasts on February 17, so if you have an analog TV and no converter box you may notice some channels missing.

UPDATE: Last night the FCC released a list of channels that will end analog broadcast on February 17. If you have an analog TV and want to know what you need do to get prepared check out this DTV FAQ, watch the video below or call a DTV call center. What do you think of the government's action to delay the digital TV transition deadline? Do you find it helpful or unnecessary?

On Februray 17th Gov Gab will be turning the keys over to our new substitute blogger Leilani who will post about the DTV transition in Spanish to assist our Spanish readers. Or as she would say: Mañana Gov Gab hará algo un poco distinto y le dará la bienvenida a Leilani, nuestro nuevo blogger substituto, quien presentará información en español sobre este mismo tema - la transición a la televisión digital - para ayudar a nuestros lectores de habla hispana.

| Post a Comment | View Comments [12] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: dtv   dtv_transition_deadline_delay   jake   june_12  

 

Entry bubble Answering Income Tax "What Ifs"

By: Jake | February 09, 2009 | Category: Money

Tax prep photoAs Jess's post last week demonstrated, people are busy preparing for the 2009 tax filing season. Unfortunately with the economic downturn, a lot of people have fallen into "what if?" situations as they tackle their Internal Revenue Service forms. A "what if?" would include situations where you dipped into your IRA or lost your job.

Last week a colleague forwarded me an email from the IRS explaining people can answer many of these "what ifs" by searching the IRS homepage. I went ahead and did the searching for you and created the list of links below to help answer your "what ifs?" If by chance you have more "what ifs," contact the IRS or leave me a comment and I'll see if I can answer it for you.

Job Related

What if I lose my job?
What if my income declines?
What if I withdraw money from my IRA?
What if my 401(k) drops in value?

Debt Related

What if I lose my home through foreclosure?
What if I sell my home for a loss?
What if my debt is forgiven?

Tax Related

What if I can’t pay my taxes?
What if I can’t pay my installment agreement?
What if I can’t resolve my tax problem with the IRS?
What if I need legal representation to help with my tax problem but can’t afford it? 

| Post a Comment | View Comments [7] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: economic_downturn   income_tax   jake   job_loss   taxes   unemployment  

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