Well, the proud Senators, most of whom have never in their lives employed somebody (although many have made the "honest" mistake of employing illegal aliens and "forgetting" to pay their payroll taxes in employing them), finally let us working stiffs know what all those promises of lowering our taxes was all about.
THE GREAT PLAN WAS FINALLY ANNOUNCED, THIS IS THE PLAN WE HAVE WAITED FOR HOLDING OUR BREATH.
We finally know the great plan to save us, to save America, to start the great economic recovery; $13 a week over the next year or so, directly into our pockets! Ok, so there are some conditions, but what the heck, it's $13 bucks, directly into our pocket.
Ok, that's the maximum...but you can still get something....unless you are an "employer" making the really big bucks....well not really the big bucks...at some point you get nothing (the assumption is that you do not need the generous $13 bucks), you have plenty of bucks already.
Now let's see, here are my options for how to spend this stimulating amount, after all I want to help all I can and put in my contribution toward the economic recovery of America. But wait, was this supposed to go into my pocket, or was I supposed to immediately take the $13 bucks and put it into another guy's pocket...sort of like that game where I get $13 bucks, and I give it to you, and you give it to another guy, and he gives it to another guy...etc..
So, exactly how is this $13 bucks going to stimulate, and whom, and how ?
Now I'm lost. I get $13 bucks, but I have to spend it as quickly as I can, preferably on instantly disposable stuff like paying the kid next door to rake my leaves so he can go out and buy a video game (it would have to be a used game at Game Stop since none are so cheap)made in China and sold at the WAL-MART?
The other option is that I can do something more meaningful and buy something bigger.
Perhaps I can go and get a stereo, a computer or a TV at the RENT-A-CENTER, even if I have absolutely no credit, since they advertise that if I can pay $13 a week, I need no credit to get this stuff from them, and, best of ,after only 500 weeks of those payments,(overstated for hilarity purposes) I will own it outright!
I can use the entire savings provided me by the Congressional generosity to get stuff for me, thanks to Senator Harry Reid and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
Also notable is that all this generosity could never have been possible without the help of those three "brave" Republican Senators who "crossed the isle" (that isle must be quite a dangerous place) and voted those $13 bucks for me (wait a minute, won't that $13 bucks come out from me by adding to the deb that I and my kids are going to repay?) the "little guy" that they always fight for...for me, they are truly my champions!
I did just some basic thinking about what $800 billion represents to the typical working person in America....let's calculate about 100 million working adults...if the government took that $800 billion, and divided it equally among all those working people, they could each get about $8,000. That's without denying these funds to the rich..those let's say making $50,000 a year.
If every adult in America got $8,000.....they would surely feel stimulated to buy something...maybe even something made in America. Surely this spending spree would be noticed in the economy...will the $13 bucks be noticed, or $8,000 bucks be noticed?
The bottom line is that billions and billions will go to businesses that will not in ANY WAY impact any of YOUR present endeavors or your lifestyle, but they will surely stimulate the BIG businesses that are failing like the American car industry rust buckets to stay on life support a little longer, without disconnecting them from the ventilator.
A lot of the money will go to prop-up mismanaged state governments that have deficits and can not finance them.
Ask yourself this question....if you are an employer or an employee....
"What will I, or my company get because the government is spending $800 billion, besides the $13 bucks reduction in my witholding each week?"
Now that you thought about it ......There is your answer...NOTHING, right?
So, maybe the next $800 billion will be better spent, maybe.
P.S. Oh, but wait, all that stuff is made in China or Vanatu (where is that anyway?) or Croatia, not in the USA....so am I really contributing to the economic recover of the USA? Too late now to think about it, it was important that the plan got passed as soon as possible.
An Optimist.....
