Tax Rebates Will Go Out Earlier, Bush Says

HARTFORD, Conn., April 25 -- President Bush announced Friday that the Internal Revenue Service will begin depositing rebates into taxpayer accounts on Monday -- four days earlier than expected.

Bush said the tax rebates, approved as part of a bipartisan $168 billion stimulus package this year, will help consumers cope with the rising cost of living and lift the country out of what he calls an "economic slowdown."

"Your rebate is on the way," Bush said in remarks on the South Lawn of the White House before departing for an anti-malaria event and GOP fundraiser in Connecticut. "This money is going to help Americans offset the high prices we're seeing at the gas pump and at the grocery store, and it will also give our economy a boost to help us pull out of this economic slowdown."

Eligible taxpayers may receive as much as $1,200 per couple and $300 per child under the stimulus package, and those who chose direct deposit will start seeing rebate funds in their bank accounts Monday. The first rebate checks will be mailed May 9, a week ahead of schedule, the administration said.

The speedier timeframe gave Bush a chance to focus attention on a stimulus package that he has cast as a virtual lifeline for the economy, insisting repeatedly in recent months that the expenditures will result in a surge of consumer spending that will kick-start the economy. Officials said that about $50 billion of rebates should be in taxpayers' hands by the end of May, and more than $100 billion a month later.

Congressional Democrats, while saying they welcomed the rebates that they also supported, said they were troubled by Bush's shift in emphasis toward using the money for staples rather than for broader consumer spending.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said that Bush's remarks underscore the need for a second stimulus package, which the administration and GOP lawmakers have so far resisted.

"It's galling to think that taxpayers' stimulus checks will be lining the pockets of OPEC," said Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), referring to record oil prices. "The sad truth is that the average American family will spend almost their entire stimulus check on higher gas prices this year."

Under pressure from a staggering credit and housing market, Bush has repeatedly urged caution in considering more federal intervention, in part because he said the stimulus checks could provide the boost the economy needs. "The effects of the stimulus will begin to reach millions of households across our country," he said yesterday.

But as he has for months, Bush declined to refer to the current economic downturn as a "recession," preferring "slowdown" instead. Most economists believe the United States has probably entered a recession, however; an official quarterly report from the government is due next week.

The Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index on Friday hit its weakest level in 26 years amid heightened worries over inflation and housing. The survey group also said the tax rebates will probably have only a limited effect on the worsening economy.

Bush's rebate remarks came before his visit to Connecticut, where he touted anti-malaria efforts at the original Boys and Girls Club chapter in Hartford, and then hosted a $750,000 GOP fundraiser at the South Kent estate of Nixon administration secretary of state Henry A. Kissinger.