[2006alum]

Incidentally, in 2008 the checks also took at least three months to be sent out from the time the legislation was passed, per a Politico piece comparing today's efforts to the most recent attempt to push cash into the hands of recession-fearing citizens:

In 2008, [Pelosi's] negotiating partner was Bush treasury secretary Henry Paulson Jr., a former Goldman Sachs CEO who also liked to make deals. House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio, a conservative Republican who was also at the table, was yet another dealmaker.

The climate did not necessarily seem conducive to compromise. Bush had unilaterally announced a plan to send out checks to most Americans, but not to the working poor. Boehner wanted to stuff the plan with tax breaks for businesses, while Pelosi wanted spending programs for the needy. As the talks began in the House’s “Board of Education” room, the tiny hideaway where Speaker Sam Rayburn used to “educate” members unwise enough to cross him, Boehner groused that the goal was supposed to be economic stimulus, not income redistribution. Pelosi shot back that the actual goal was preventing “your potential recession.”

But it took just two days to unite the room around a simple middle ground: Send out checks of up to $1200 per family plus $300 per child, like Bush wanted, and include the working poor, like Pelosi wanted. She insisted that top earners couldn’t be eligible, and Boehner insisted on a tax break encouraging businesses to buy equipment, but Congress overwhelmingly approved the deal in February, and the checks started going out in May. And Paulson says the bipartisan trust built over those two days was vital to passing the bipartisan $700 billion bank bailout that helped rescue the financial system in the fall.

[2006alum]

Incidentally, in 2008 the checks also took at least three months to be sent out from the time the legislation was passed, per a Politico piece comparing today's efforts to the most recent attempt to push cash into the hands of recession-fearing citizens:

In 2008, [Pelosi's] negotiating partner was Bush treasury secretary Henry Paulson Jr., a former Goldman Sachs CEO who also liked to make deals. House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio, a conservative Republican who was also at the table, was yet another dealmaker.

The climate did not necessarily seem conducive to compromise. Bush had unilaterally announced a plan to send out checks to most Americans, but not to the working poor. Boehner wanted to stuff the plan with tax breaks for businesses, while Pelosi wanted spending programs for the needy. As the talks began in the House’s “Board of Education” room, the tiny hideaway where Speaker Sam Rayburn used to “educate” members unwise enough to cross him, Boehner groused that the goal was supposed to be economic stimulus, not income redistribution. Pelosi shot back that the actual goal was preventing “your potential recession.”

But it took just two days to unite the room around a simple middle ground: Send out checks of up to $1200 per family plus $300 per child, like Bush wanted, and include the working poor, like Pelosi wanted. She insisted that top earners couldn’t be eligible, and Boehner insisted on a tax break encouraging businesses to buy equipment, but Congress overwhelmingly approved the deal in February, and the checks started going out in May. And Paulson says the bipartisan trust built over those two days was vital to passing the bipartisan $700 billion bank bailout that helped rescue the financial system in the fall.