Have you figured out how you're going to spend your six hundred bucks?
I haven't decided yet. A trip to Mexico? Never been there. Or pay down one of the credit cards? What's the fun of that? A new toy? Most of them cost more than $600.
And I'm not sure how any of those fix what's wrong with our economy. After all, isn't that the point? Somehow, we're all going to take our six hundred bucks and collectively "stimulate" the economy to avoid the R word.
I have a couple months to decide, sounds like. So, maybe I'll figure something out.
I'll be glad to get the money, I guess. A little bit of repayment for all that dough I spent raising my kids. After all, the government's borrowing the money to send it to me. So, that means my kids or grandkids will end up paying for it. I don't take much comfort in that. I'd rather have my kids spending their money raising their kids than putting $600 into my pocket. Hmmm. Maybe I'll do something fun with the kids and grandkids. It's their money, after all, that I'll be spending.
I don't get what this so-called "economic stimulus" is supposed to accomplish. It doesn't fix what's broken. Well, it is an election year. So, there's an element of political bribery involved, I suppose. And there's an element of raw fear on the part of a group of people -- Congress and our president -- who don't seem to have a clue about what they could do that might really help and who are afraid they have to do something to keep we the people under control. Don't want a bunch of angry voters heading to the polls in November.
What we really need, it seems to me, is for Congress and the president to come up with ways to fix the underlying problems with our economy so we have real, long-term improvement.
During the Depression, there were a lot of people out of work. So, FDR put them to work with the WPA and other government work programs.
And, with the transition from an agricultural to an industrial economy already under way, we had a lot of people who had no way to support themselves in their old age. When most of us lived on farms, the norm was for the working generation to take care of the old folks, who lived under the same roof. So FDR created Social Security to provide retirement income for our old folks.
Today, the problems are much different. We've quit making things. It's "cheaper" to buy them from China -- or wherever. Except, of course, there's a huge hidden cost in the form of lost jobs.
The folks who want to believe our economy's doing just fine point to the fact that the unemployment rate is low. But a lot of folks are working for less money than they used to.
If there are 10 of us and we make $1,000 each, our average income is $1,000. If one of us makes $10,000 and the other nine make $100 each, our average income has increased to $1,090 and our little mini-economy has grown by a "healthy" 9 percent, or $900. But most of us are worse off. That's what's happening to our economy.
We have corporate executives and Wall Street types looting billions upon billions of dollars from our economy to make themselves richer on the backs of us poor working stiffs without adding any value. How is me giving me a check for $600 going to to fix that?
I remember when executives used to wrestle with guilt if they thought they might have to lay someone off. Now they brag about how many jobs they cut or sent overseas to make their own bonuses bigger. How is giving me a check for $600 going to fix that?
The huge losses on Wall Street and the other stock exchanges of the world started with a group of economic whiz kids figuring out how to make millions of risk-free fees for themselves by lending money to people who couldn't afford to buy the homes they bought and then selling this high-risk debt to other investors -- some of whom should have known better -- thereby looting billions from the economy without adding any real value. How is giving me a check for $600 going to fix that?
I could go on, but I hope I've made my point. We don't need checks for $600. We need political leadership that will help us start taking back control of our government and our economy.
What are the chances of that happening? How do we change the odds?
That's my two cents' worth. What's yours? -- Jerreigh@contemplayshuns.com
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