Starting this month, you can expect a letter from the Internal Revenue Service announcing the pending arrival of the much-heralded tax-cut checks, which for most of us non-married low earners will amount to “up to $300.” Hip hip hooray. The checks should start coming in by the end of the month, with the last arriving by the end of September; the last two digits of your Social Security number determine when you’ll see yours (00-09 are the first lucky winners).

The letter says: “We are pleased to inform you that the United States Congress passed and President George W. Bush signed into law [the tax bill], which provides long-term tax relief for all Americans who pay income taxes. The new tax law provides immediate relief in 2001 and long-term tax relief for years to come.”

Critics, like Senator Charles Schumer of New York, are scoffing at both the cut and the cheesy letter. “This letter looks more like it was written for a candidate in a campaign than for a government agency,” he told the AP last month. “They’re bragging about the tax cuts.”

Last month, Boston Globe columnist Ellen Goodman urged readers to donate their rebates; she highlighted a Web site, taxrebate.org, which points to several organizations that could use the money.

But some us may want to use our whopping $300 checks to throw a tax-rebate tantrum. We’ve conjured up 10 ways to stick it to Dubya in a spending protest:

• Send Jenna a six-pack of Miller High Life.

• Send condom care packages to local high schools.

• Take Jim Jeffords out to dinner.

• Try to get hold of some of that medical marijuana.

• Endorse it over to the Hillary Clinton for President fund.

• Drill for oil on Bush’s Texas ranch.

• Send him a ticket to Sweden for a second peek at demonstrators’ cheeks.

• Host a That’s My Bush marathon.

• Invest in some sexually explicit CDs.

• Get an abortion.

Issue Date: July 5 - 12, 2001