The headline-grabbing refund checks, part of an economic stimulus package passed in February, will go to roughly 130 million US households and will range in value from $300 to $1,200.

According to President Bush: “The money is going to help Americans offset the high prices we’re seeing at the gas pump, the grocery store, and also give our economy a boost to help us pull out of this economic slowdown.”

“The Bush legislation includes a provision that offers generous tax credits to individuals who buy homes out of foreclosure,” says Peter D. Schiff in Money Morning.

“While this is billed as a benefit to homebuyers, it is just another handout to lenders, since the prospective buyers qualifying for the tax breaks will simply pay more at auctions as the tax breaks subsidize higher bids. The real winners are the creditors who will now get more in foreclosure than they would have had buyers not been counting on having their bids subsidized by the government.

“Of course, for all the talk about taxpayer bailouts, none of the Senators bothered to mention that — for the moment — no tax increases actually are on the table. Instead, the bailouts are being financed by savers, pensioners, wage earners, investors and the elderly on fixed incomes, who all suffer staggering increases in their costs of living, as the Fed uses inflation to rob Main Street to pay off Wall Street.”