Where's My 2009 Stimulus Check?

Will the $838 billion U.S. economic stimulus plan include any sort of stimulus checks being mailed to U.S. taxpayers? Well it doesn't look like it! Why not? Well it seems like the last stimulus check didn't really have an effect on the economy. Well maybe it had an effect on the Chinese economy but not the U.S. one. Instead it looks like the stimulus package will provide a tax credit to people -- one that will appear on their 2009 tax return. That's a long way off so what's the point? Well if the tax credit also helps businesses reduce their payroll tax exposure, then maybe businesses will be more inclined to hire more people.