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Update1: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced that they have launched “389 law enforcement actions” in an effort to prevent, stop, and/or prosecute stimulus fraud:

“To con artists, today’s challenging economy presents a golden opportunity — sadly, an opportunity to play on the economic distress of American consumers,” [FTC Chairman Jon] Leibowitz said.

Discussion is swirling in the Obama camp and among pundits of the possibility of a second stimulus package. Laura Tyson, an adviser on the president’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, said in a speech in Singapore yesterday that the $787 billion stimulus package was too small and that the White House underestimated the economic downturn:

“The economy is worse than we forecast on which the stimulus program was based,” Tyson, who is a member of Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory board, told the Nomura Equity Forum. “We probably have already 2.5 million more job losses than anticipated.”

Last week CNBC’s Jerry Bowyer asked “why isn’t America hiring?”

…given the political mood in Washington during the past two years which has been far more focused on job creation (or savings) than on general economic growth. The stimuli plans were supposed to be job plans. The auto/bank bailouts cum nationalizations were supposed to be about saving jobs, not ‘Wall Street’. So given two record breaking stimuli within two years, why isn’t America hiring?

Bowyer answers his own question by speculating that “America isn’t hiring precisely because of government policy.” He concludes by writing “Jobs aren’t languishing despite the government’s best efforts. They’re languishing because of them.”

President Obama’s Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act (stimulus package) includes several consumer incentives and tax breaks designed to help Americans stimulate the economy.

So here’s the big question: How many of the following items will help you?

1. Employee Tax Credit - Provides American workers with about $45 extra each month, up to $400 for single tax filers, $800 for joint filers.
2. New Car-Sales Tax Deduction – From about the middle of February through year’s end, taxpayers can deduct the sales tax of their new vehicle on their 2009 tax return.
3. Better Benefits for the Unemployed – Weekly unemployment benefits automatically increase by $25 for the entire year, up to 33 weeks. Also, the application period is extended.
4. New Home-Buyer Tax Credit – If a new home is purchased before December 1, the home buyer is eligible for a tax credit of up to $8,000 which does not need to be paid back.
5. Health Care Subsidy for the Unemployed – The government will subsidize 65% of COBRA coverage for up to nine months.
6. AMT Tax Relief – The tax relief measure increases the income threshold by $500 for single tax filers and $1,000 for joint filers, so that 26 million taxpayers will avoid paying more.
7. College Aid Gets Fresh Funding – Additional funds have been dedicated to certain college programs and grants.

Nearly every critic of the president’s Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ERRA — the latest stimulus package) argued that the bill was far too expensive and would not promptly impact the economy. Others argued that the stimulus wasn’t big enough.

The Wall Street Journal’s blog ‘Real Time Economics’ brought two economists together with opposing views on the subject to present their arguments.

If you’re interested in the new ‘Tea Party’ movement of consumer unhappiness, here’s a schedule of events planned around the country.

I count 40(!) so far, almost all tomorrow (February 27); looks like there’s at least one ‘Tea Party’ planned for every major city.

While we don’t want to harp on the Tea Party phenomenon, it’s becoming apparent from the new groups forming that there’s a lot of anger and frustration out there — and that it’s manifesting itself in a growing number of public protests.

The latest group, the New American Tea Party, bills itself as “the official Washington, D.C. Tea Party blog.” The group is planning “an event happening on February 27, at 12 pm, permits pending.”

Perhaps it was inevitable. First, Rick Santelli’s rant last week on CNBC spawned the formation of the American Tea Party.

Now, there’s a new group in town:

The 92 Percent Group is committed to the preservation of free-market economics in the United States, specifically in relation to the Obama Administration’s Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan. We believe this plan is unjust to the vast majority of American taxpayers; in particular to the 92 percent of homeowners who are current on their mortgages.

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What CNBC viewers began calling the Chicago Tea Party has begun to turn into a nationwide phenomenon as taxpayers across the US meet to protest the ’stimulus’ package. There’s a website, and even a Facebook page, for a group calling itself The American Tea Party.

Basically, taxpayers are fed up:

As the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 — a.k.a. the Stimulus Package — grows like Topsy as it wends its way through Congress, it’s encountering growing opposition from the American public:

Support for the economic recovery plan working its way through Congress has fallen again this week. For the first time, a plurality of voters nationwide oppose the $800-billion-plus plan.

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