Economic Recovery Payments to Recipients of Social Security

This one leaves me out. I get a teacher's pension and am subject to the Government Pension Offset. The SS on-line page sounds less sure about how this will happen. "We are currently working on the details regarding how we will issue nearly 55 million one-time payments to our beneficiaries." Bush won over no Democrats when he returned their overpayment of taxes (called a tax cut)--in fact they ridiculed him that it was so small. So I don't think this will fool any of us who see the ARRA has a huge step toward nationalizing the economy and instituting high inflation since Obama is killing those businesses that actually provide jobs and a tax base, just as he promised during his campaign. Chavez recently said he should come out of the closet (no, not that one) and just admit he's a socialist.

Section 2201 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) authorized a $250 one-time payment to recipients of Social Security, SSI, Railroad Retirement Benefits, and Veterans Disability Compensation or Pension Benefits. These payments are expected to be issued in May and June 2009.

In accordance with the provisions of Section 2201, these payments shall not be counted as income or as a resource in the month received and the following 9 months for the purposes of determining eligibility for FDPIR. Therefore, any applicant or participating household that receives the $250 payment would have the value of its total countable resources reduced by $250 in the month received and the following 9 months.

For example, a two-person household receives the $250 payment in May 2009. The $250 payment combined with the household’s other resources totals $3,158. The household qualifies for the $3,000 resource limit because at least one of the household members is 60 years or older. The $250 payment is excluded as income and as a resource in May 2009 and for the 9-month period of June through February 2010. Consequently, the household would remain resource eligible for FDPIR from May 2009 through February 2010, unless its total countable resources exceeded $3,250. Beginning March 2010, the $250 resource exclusion would no longer be applicable, so the household would not be resource eligible if its total countable resources exceeded $3,000.

So I wonder what is a "resource limit?" SS plus dividends? SS plus part time job? Plus rental income? Plus losses? It will probably generate 3 additional pages on our 2009 income tax (federal, state, estimated), and we pay by the page.