Stimulus Checks
I wonder how many tanks of gas Americans will purchase with their "stimulus" check?
Or Big Macs?
I was going to add the amount to what I have saved for putting a new roof on my house. But I asked a roofing supply house yesterday how much asphalt shingles (asphalt is from crude oil) went up this year, and he said 15% easy. So $600 might cover inflation? Crude hit $123 a barrel this week.
I think the stimulus checks are a mere bandaid. Just another example of how Bush is going to leave this mess to someone else after he sold out the country and it's treasury.
$600 is nothing. I'm sure families will enjoy $600 they don't have to put on their Visa or Mastercard. The smart one's will use it to pay debt only.
But moreso, I believe the "stimulus checks" are going to be used to hold back the Americans that are being taken down, perfectly timed before fuel prices jump again.
Macroeconomically speaking, the stimulus package will offer no economic development; it will cost interest on money borrowed and I believe it has cost 142 million thus far by the IRS to administer.
Bush is no economic wizard. He even says he can't offer a wand to fix it all. He should have thought about that before he sold out the American public.
But I think the majority of Americans will be happy for beer money, fast food money, Big Time Wrestling tickets, dope, or gas.
But for this, this is payback from Bush stealing candy from children or sovereignty from it's citizens.
How do you intend to spend the cash if I may ask?
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I'm a college student (Graduating in 17 days) and therefore still listed as a dependent when my parents file. Dependents don't get a stimulus check and parents with children over eighteen who are dependents don't get any extra money for that child. So not only do I get screwed by not getting a check at all my parents don't get any extra money. Which is sad because a college student could pay off their credit card debt or student loans as I was planning on doing or pay to take another class this summer. Any college students out there wanna march on Washington for our money?
You do realize, of course, that your position of using thie "rebate" to pay off your credit car debt or student loans would be counterproductive to the short-term purpose of an "economic stimulus" package right?
So are you wanting the money to use it as it has been proposed? To spend it freely and stimulate the economy... or are you playing sour grapes because neither you nor your parents are getting a share of the pie?
Personally, I have instructed my bank to not accept an electronic deposit from the federal government, I have also talked with them to ensure I have an avenue to return the money electronically in the case that it does slip through -- and for the record, I am married with 4 children, so we're talking about $2400.00 here. It would be nice, sure, but I'm not going to sacrifice my own morals and values for the sake fo having some fun money... Borrowing money to stimulate the economy is very very bad fiscal policy, and I won't subscribe to that. (But that's me)
The government can't tell me how to stimulate the economy. The only economy that is important to me is my own. If I were taking more than I gave them I would feel guilty but this is my money. One day I was bored and took a look at my pay stub from my part time after school job the government takes 22% of my pay check that means for every four minutes I work I work one minute for the government. Compared to yourself I make small potatoes and you're probably taxed at much higher rate, I'd assume close to 50%. Why wouldn't you want some of that back? It is your money. You earned it theres nothing immoral about keeping or getting back what you earned. If it were a handout in excess of what you put in it may be.
But there is something immoral about our government borrowing from China to give us our money back.
If I took a dollar from you, then I would use my money to give you your dollar back. I wouldn't go and take a dollar from my neighbor to give it to you. It's a snowballing effect of bad fiscal policy, plain and simple... and yes, it really is that simple.
In any respect, this "rebate" is not tax money that you paid in... so the point is moot at best. (P.S. The last time the government "gave" the working class a "rebate", it ended up becomging part of our taxable income the following April, and was, you guessed it, taxed... Thanks for nothing Government!)
What if your neighbor gave you a better interest rate or you had a better relationship with that second neighbor. That would be a good financial decision its like a pseudo refinance.
It's still an effort to justify borrowing to repay debt, and no matter how you slice it, that is bad fiscal policy. In essence, all you are doing is shifting the burden of the debt to a new source and does nothing to mitigate a failure. What if I lost my job after assuming the second debt and could not repay that debt? The percentage rate doesn't matter because I have still incurred debt.
Our grandparents scrimped and saved to buy a home, a car, whatever. If they could not afford it, they didn't have it. They did not go out inflate their personal net worth by borrowing and reborrowing to finance extravvagant behavior and they never lived beyond their means.
How do you feel about someone who borrows from payday lenders to repay credit card debt?
How do you feel about someone who takes a loan against the equity of his home in order to repay his mortgage?
Would you personally engage in either of these acts? Think long and hard because you are essentially telling the government that you condone them doing it.
They are very bad fiscal policies, and yet, people do it all of the time... and all they are doing is snowballing an already overburdened debt they have amassed for themselves - to a point where it will inevitably become insurmountable.
Its going right into the bank... It's not like I have plans to run out and spend this cause I view it as extra money.. It will not change my spending habits one bit.
I haven't decided yet but a few options are:
1) A new addition to my gun collection.
2) A recliner for the family room.
3) Miscellaneous home repairs.
DeltaRho2K I understand your sentiment. It is bad fiscal policy. But on the other hand the government took the money away from you in the first place. Now you get a chance to get some of it back.
I hear you, but I can't rationalize bad fiscal policy. Think abuot it. You just rationalized it by saying "The government took my money, and I want it back even if the government has to borrow from the Chinese to give it back to me. I'm OK with that." Are you really OK with that? You didn't say it in those words, but essentially, it is what you are saying.
That's the kind of mentality that the general population uses to not take a stand against their government's unconstitional practices.
I was discussing the "Real ID" act with a friend, and I asked him why he wasn't against it. His response... "I've got nothing to hide, so who cares?" Yikes! These are the people who are voting for our president, uninformed, and quite content. Incidentally, he also shares the same viewpoint about "It's mine anyhow, so I'm glad the government is giving it back to me."
In any respect, to each his own. I'm glad to hear that you are at least going to do your part to stimulate the economy by making purchases outside of credit debt or savings.
There is a lot of truth to what you say. This is an issue that I've had to wrestle with. Here's the way I see it: The government is fiscally irresponsible. No matter how much money you give them they will still spend it all and more. As proof all we have to do is look at the budget deficit. The budget has not been balanced since the Eisenhower era, despite Clinton's claims to the contrary. The national debt increased every single year Bill Clinton was in office, and every year back to about 1960.
We could also look at the Social Security system. Currently SS brings in more in revenue than it pays out in benefits. The excess is supposed to go into the SS trust fund so it can be used in the future when the SS cash flow reverses and the system is expected to pay our more than it takes in. But the government borrows the excess funds and spends them on other things and puts special treasury notes in their place. Those notes are in effect just IOUs from the government. So in 2017 government will have to begin paying off the notes. To do that they will either have to borrow the money or print it. So in this case they bring in more money than they need and they still can't resist the urge to spend it all and more. You simply cannot trust them with money. That's why the founders created a very limited government. Unfortunately that form of government has slipped away from us. It should be our mission to restore it.
But we are not being asked to vote on whether government should give us stimulus checks. They are doing it whether you like it or not. If you refuse yours then the stimulus simply means that some of your tax dollars will go to someone else. It might be more palatable to you if you think of the stimulus check as a tax credit.
BTW you're devotion to your principles is most admirable. I commend you for it.