By Dan Verbeck
Kansas CIty, Mo. – The U.S. Treasury Secretary observed the Kansas City printing plant where economic stimulus checks are being produced and predicted a speedup in the operation. Henry Paulson Jr. watched high speed printers working at the Kansas City regional Financial Management Center, then told a gathering at the Central Library the system will be sending out two and a half million checks a week through the end of this month. He said the numbers will rise to nearly 4 million weekly by mid summer, after the IRS is done with its' regular seasonal work. Paulson says the idea for stimulus checks, up to $12 hundred per qualifying family, was born after he was told at a Bruce Watkins Cultural Heritage Center meeting how badly people were faring. That was last year. Paulson was asked if there'll be a second phase of rebates. He says there are no plans for it. Other Treasury printing centers are located in Texas, California and Pennsylvania.