Delivery will depend on the last two digits of your Social Security number.

Date Mailed - Last 2 Digits

July 20 - 00-09
July 27 - 10-19
August 3 - 20-29
August 10 - 30-39
August 17 - 40-49
August 24 - 50-59
August 31 - 60-69
September 7 - 70-79
September 14 - 80-89
September 21 - 90-99

-- Anonymous, June 07, 2001

Answers

BLITZER REPORT

Thursday's report

Find out when you'll get your tax rebate

From CNN's Wolf Blitzer:

You have to give credit where credit is due. President Bush has now signed into law the $1.35 trillion, 11-year tax cut package. It's been called the "crown jewel" of his legislative agenda. It was less than the $1.6 trillion, 10-year package that he had originally sought. But it wasn't much less. In short, the president got much of what he wanted.

I remember going to Iowa to interview then-Governor and presidential candidate George W. Bush in late 1999. He was then actively campaigning. We spoke about many issues even as he wanted to focus primarily on two -- education and tax cuts. As Mr. Bush has often said in recent weeks, not many "experts" thought a few months ago that he would get the huge tax cut through Congress. But he remained determined and, in the end, got his way.

You will begin to feel the benefits soon. In the coming weeks, those of you who filed income tax returns for last year showing a taxable income of at least $6,000 will begin receiving tax rebate checks -- $300 for individuals, $500 for single parents, and $600 for married couples. Checks will be mailed out between July 20 and September 21. Click here for the exact schedule. You will see that the date you receive your check is based upon your Social Security number.

The president and his Republican allies will receive lots of political credit for those checks, but as his Treasury Secretary, Paul O'Neill, conceded Sunday when I interviewed him, that tax rebate scheme was originally promoted by Democrats. They argued that the tax rebates would provide an immediate stimulus to the U.S. economy. The White House was sharply opposed, preferring that the funding be used for permanent tax cuts, not simply a one-shot, tax-rebate deal. But in the end, in order to win the support of several moderate Democrats, the White House went along with the tax rebate program.

The Democrats, by and large, may have opposed the large tax cut package but they did promote the tax rebate scheme. The irony is that they will receive little credit for those rebate checks when they arrive.

The president's aides say his next big agenda item will be the education reform bill. On this front, he is closely working with liberal Democrats to achieve a compromise. His chief ally on Capitol Hill is Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts. The president has been forced to drop his long-time push for so-called school vouchers. Those federal grants would have allowed parents to move their children from failing public schools to better private or parochial schools. But the opposition is intense. Opponents fear it could drain money from public schools and thereby undermine them. As a result, the president knows that vouchers won't be in the final bill. Sooner, rather than later, the president will have another signing ceremony at the White House.

But with Democrats now the majority in the Senate, the question many insiders here in Washington are now asking is which political strategy will the president use in pursuing his other priorities, whether on HMO reform, energy, national missile defense, prescription drugs for seniors, or Social Security reform. Will he take a relatively hard-line stance in pushing for his objectives -- as he did during the tax cut debate? Or will the president reach out to Democrats to achieve a truly bipartisan compromise -- as he has done on education?

Most of the betting here is that he will take the latter approach. A first key test probably will come on HMO reform or what's called the Patient's Bill of Rights. A few weeks ago, Mr. Bush vowed to veto pending legislation co-sponsored by Republican Senator John McCain and Democratic Senators Ted Kennedy and John Edwards. Their disagreement focuses on the ability of patients to sue their HMOs. But there's a new political landscape in Washington now that could force the president to rethink his approach. We shall see.

Wolf Blitzer

-- Anonymous, June 07, 2001