“How do you feel about President Carter dropping the $50 tax rebate?” from the April 19, 1977 Door County Advocate
Linda Adams asks
How do you feel about President Carter dropping the $50 tax rebate?
V. Carroll Squier, 817 Superior: “I think it is just as well the rebate was dropped. For those with a working income a $50 tax refund wouldn’t really make that much difference. It would be something a little extra but not really necessary.”
Pat Bacon, Baileys Harbor: “I guess we all looked forward to its coming so I wasn’t too happy. My family would have been able to put it to good use.”
Sadie Petry, 742 Georgia: “I really didn’t expect it to go through. I felt the president was promising something he might change his mind on. I feel it would have been quite an obligation for the government to meet. Plenty of room in other areas to put that money to use.”
Mrs. Emma Hafeman, Forestville: “I would have liked to see the government give the money back to the people as I think they could use it more.”
Mary Wettstein, 114 N. 7th: “I think it is wise President Carter dropped the proposal. I don’t think Carter can afford a hassle with congress at this point. He is a politician and has admitted it. I’m also afraid that large families who would have received several hundred dollars refund might have put the money in savings and the country needs to keep the money flowing at this time.”
Mrs. Chester Wilke, Bay Shore Dr.: “I was against the blanket $50 tax refund. The people who need the money most would not have received the rebate as they didn’t make enough money to file income tax in the first place. I’m just as glad that President Carter dropped the proposed rebate.
Horace Park, 419 S. 4th: “I think dropping the rebate was a dirty trick. Most people have already spent the $50, that’s why business has been so good lately. Now that the economy has picked up the government feels it doesn’t have to give the rebate after all.”
Courtesy of the Door County Library Newspaper Archive
[History of the tax rebate proposal: https://www.taxnotes.com/tax-history-project/timelines-tax-history-jimmy-carters-tax-ambitions-were-mugged-reality/2023/07/14/7gz4h
$50 in April 1977 is equivalent to $267.89 in May 2025.]
Posts about taxes
http://doorcounty.substack.com/t/taxes