Ha Ha, I Was Right

In January I called Time's Joe Klein a putz, for his blog posting of Jan. 25 which began with this:

Absolutely amazing poll results from CNN today about the $787 stimulus package: nearly three out of four Americans think the money has been wasted. On second thought, they may be right: it's been wasted on them. Indeed, the largest single item in the package--$288 billion--is tax relief for 95% of the American public. This money is that magical $60 to $80 per month you've been finding in your paycheck since last spring. Not a life changing amount, but helpful in paying the bills.

http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2010/01/25/too-dumb-to-thrive/#ixzz0dpGiY714

(Emphasis added.)

I wrote then:

Yes, Joe, I found the extra money helpful. And I am also paying taxes on it, as I discovered when I did my 1040 the other day. Matter of fact, I owe the feds about $600 - oddly enough, almost the precise amount of the "tax relief."

And yesterday, The Associated Press, always at the head of the pack, discovered this phenomenon:

13M get unexpected tax bill from Obama tax credit

WASHINGTON (AP) — About 13.4 million taxpayers may be getting unexpected tax bills because they were awarded too much money under President Barack Obama's Making Work Pay tax credit, a government audit said Thursday.

The tax credit, which expires Jan. 1, was designed to increase take-home pay by about $8 a week through new tax withholding tables. The credit was capped at $400 for individuals and $800 for married couples filing jointly.

However, the credit put millions of taxpayers at risk for not having enough taxes withheld from their paychecks, resulting in a tax bill when they file their returns, said the audit by J. Russell George, the Treasury inspector general for tax administration.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j8W-0UCvLxjV7_KakiT8cxJMCNlQ?docId=81831a5c6bc947f6bc1b07e648bc9809