Tax rebate?

So, our leaders are thinking of giving us all a tax rebate, adding to the federal deficit. We might as well be getting it from Beijing, since the Chinese are rapidly buying up our debt with their trade surplus. And what will we do with the money? Many of us, myself included, would use it to repay credit card debt. In that case the money will pass from one lender to another. Can anyone tell me how this will help our economy?