Perhaps someone in the White House should have given consideration to the date President Obama gave as to when Americans would start reaping the benefits of the “Making Work Pay” tax break: April 1.

Unfortunately, it’s not an April Fool’s Day joke. It’s a year-long joke.

According to a recent AP article on MSN.com: A typical family will start taking home at least $65 more every month. Most workers are to see about a $13 per week increase in their take-home pay. In 2010, the credit would be about $7.70 a week, if it is spread over the entire year.

Unlike the one-time $600 rebate given to taxpayers under President Bush, this one’s being “doled out” over a period of two years.

Some said Bush’s rebate didn’t stimulate the economy because people used it to pay down debt or saved the money. For shame. Even Michelle Obama, before Vogue cooed she’s “The First Lady the World’s Been Waiting For,” called it a short-term fix.

During a talk in Pontiac, Michigan, she said: “You’re getting $600. What can you do with that? Not to be ungrateful or anything. But maybe it pays down a bill, but it doesn’t pay down every bill every month.

“Barack’s approach is that the short-term quick fix kinda stuff sounds good. And it may even feel good that first month when you get that check. And then you go out and you buy a pair of earrings.” FROM THE NYTIMES 7/11/08

If you have a teen, that $13 a week can buy a month of unlimited texting, but at $30 a month, you’d only have enough money left to buy one of these:

Peter Petrie Egg Separator

Bacon of the Month Club [a steal at only $12.50 a month]

Someone much more mathematically whizzy than I figured that the Economic Stimubloatednormous cost each taxpayer about $5,260. Trying to compute paying that back at $13 a week makes me weak.

I’m thinking if 2,000 people all agreed to meet at a Chrysler dealership with their $13 every week for a month, they could buy four new cars. At the end of a year, they’d have purchased 48 new cars. Then what? I don’t know, but hey–it’s Chrysler Viagra, right?

In the meantime, while I’m still contemplating further computations, here are some options I’ve gathered for those of you still wallowing in the, “How in the name of everything holy as I going to spend this windfall?”

13 items you can buy with $13 [from Jessica Heffner at Middletown Journal]

1. 13 value menu burgers

2. Seven gallons of gasoline

3. A new necktie to wear at a job interview

4. Two 6-packs of beer

5. A movie matinee ($6) and a large soft drink ($5)

6. A Netflix subscription.

7. An eyebrow wax

8. Two hair cuts at Great Clips

9. Two $5 foot long subs with a drink and chips

10. Six loaves of bread

11. Two packages of socks

12. A 13-minute chair massage

13. A YMCA membership

How far will $13 a week go? [Matt Clark, Naples Daily News]

Gasoline: 6 ½ gallons ($1.99 a gallon)

Milk: 3 gallons ($3.99 Publix)

Eggs: 9 dozen ($1.39 Grade A large)

22-caliber ammunition: 50 rounds CCI Brand ($12.99)

Resume paper: 100 sheets ($12.69 Staples)

McDonald’s lunch: 4 hamburger Happy Meals ($2.69 each)

Taco Bell: 13 hard shell tacos ($.99)

Everblades game: 1 seat behind the goal 8 rows up ($12)

Movies: 1 adult movie ticket ($9.50) and chocolate-covered raisins candy ($3.50)

Movie rentals: 4 one-night new releases (Blockbuster $2.99)

Starbucks: 3 Grande Mocha Frappuccino ($4.73)

Cigarettes: 4 packs ($6.39 2-pack Virginia Slims)

Beer: 1 case Natural Light cans ($12.99 Albertson’s)

Pizza: 1 large cheese pizza ($10.99 Papa John’s)

Lottery tickets: 13 Florida Lottery tickets with the chance to win millions

_ Source: Daily News research

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