$5,000 Refund Checks Coming To New Yorkers?

New York residents could get $5,000 back from the federal government. I'm not opposed to cutting government bloat, but I don't agree with the way Elon Musk and DOGE have been going about it. I don't think they know enough about who does what in the government to make cuts that make sense.

Case in point, they fired hundreds of nuclear weapons staff from the National Nuclear Security Administration and had to rehire them. Several key scientists working on the response to the H5N1 avian flu outbreak were also fired from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and had to be hired back.

READ MORE: Gov. Hochul Will Deploy National Guard In New York Amid Chaos

Each of these firings causes chaos, insecurity, confusion, and delays. Musk is in such a rush (and probably gets a rush) to fire everyone in the Federal government that he is being sloppy, in my opinion. I also am glad I don't own any stock in Tesla, SpaceX or Twitter because it seems like Musk has abandoned his companies to run the federal government, but I digress.

President Musk Thinking About Sending Out $5,000 Rebate Checks

One thing I can possibly get down with is President Musk sending out $5,000 rebate checks to New Yorkers based on the money DOGE is supposedly saving taxpayers (because all of this is to save taxpayers' money, right?). It has bothered me that they are doing all of this cost-cutting in the name of saving Americans money, but haven't said anything about cutting federal income tax for working-class New Yorkers. Trump has floated the idea of ending the federal income tax in favor of tariffs, but it's unclear how realistic that idea is.

READ MORE: IRS Warns Of Tax Refund Delays For Certain New Yorkers

After someone on Twitter suggested that Musk and DOGE should send $5,000 "dividend" checks to Americans, Musk said he would check with the president.

While I would thoroughly enjoy getting a $5,000 refund check, tax-free especially, I am not sure it's the best idea in reality. It might stimulate the economy, but at what cost? $5,000 doesn't go a long way, especially with inflation going up, not down,

"In January, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers rose 0.5 percent, seasonally adjusted, and rose 3.0 percent over the last 12 months, not seasonally adjusted."

In the consumer society we live in, it really seems as though that money will just end up back in the hands of billionaires and corporations once it's spent. Sure, some of us might invest the money or start a business, but the majority may blow it on needless shopping sprees, only to end up royally screwed in other ways.

READ MORE: Medicaid And SNAP To Be Cut In New York

Is $5,000 worth canceling cancer research, having enough Federal Aviation Staff, feeding hungry kids, making sure Americans can get high-quality educations to compete in a global economy, funding Social Security, etc.? That's a rhetorical question, but each New Yorker and American will have to answer that for themselves.

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