Rethinking the rebates

Rethinking the rebates

San Jose Mercury News: Few things can be as nasty as anti-immigration politics in an election year. Congress was so determined to exclude undocumented workers from the economic stimulus program that it also shortchanged hundreds of thousands of troops overseas and legal immigrants working in the United States.

In late May, a much-chagrined Congress amended the program to entitle members of the armed services to their checks. That’s fine, but not enough. At a minimum, legal immigrants and their spouses should get payments, too. And the rebates really should extend to anyone who pays taxes, including illegal immigrants.

The goal of the stimulus is to jump-start the economy. Cutting out millions of workers and taxpayers from the rebates undermines the program’s effectiveness.

Tax laws should be applied uniformly, not as a tool to discriminate.