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Oct. 26, 2009 NOTE: All data below comes from the U.S. Census Bureau 2007, unless otherwise indicated. I’m not in favor of yet another stimulus package, and I believe that most Americans are against it. However, Congress is discussing it and the Dems have a majority, meaning there will probably be a second wave of stimulus payments, damn what we want. Really want to jumpstart the economy with a Stimulus II package? Then our fearless leaders need to bring an end to this reverse-Robin Hoodism and stop rewarding rich men for their greed and incompetence. No more gifts to banks or businesses. Tax cuts, yes, but no more stimulus money. Two years ago George Bush gave taxpayers a $600 stimulus check ($1200 for couples), and afterward studies showed that the money was stretched over six months. Imagine if it had been twice that. I say the government should give poor people a one-time payment of $1500; and by poor people, I mean any household earning less than $50,000 a year, including SSI, TANF and food stamp recipients, the working poor, college students, et al. What would they do with the money? Spend it almost as soon as they get it, which no doubt would pump the economy with some much-needed cash flow. The money would likely be used for food, to pay down debt, utility bills, gas, clothes, auto and home repairs, big ticket items, etc. Such payments could even be split into two separate payments, one in January and one in July. In theory, this would keep some money flowing year-‘round. It would be hard to gauge the long-term effect of this, but bailing out banks and automakers has had a negligible effect at best. Banks are still failing and bonuses are still being paid for companies that received funds in the first taxpayer-funded bailout. Of the 116,011,000 households in the U.S. , more than half (59,830,000) have an annual income of less than $50,000. Had the first stimulus package been divided among those families, that would have provided each with $6,784 in additional income. Some of that money could have been saved or invested, but the vast majority of it would have been pout right back into the economy. Imagine, finally a government giveaway with a tangible effect for their money. An alternative to this plan would be to give each of these families half that amount ($3,392) and you would still see some results, especially with the holiday season upon us. What’s more, the balance of $787 billion could be used to offset state deficits, which according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, for 2010 and 2011 will have combined gaps of $350 billion. (Elizabeth McNichol and Nicholas Johnson, Recession Continues to Batter State Budgets; State Responses Could Slow Recovery, Ocober 20, 2009). (http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=711) Personally, I’m fed-up with these business leeches lining their pockets and then coming back to the table for seconds. Hell, the rest of us have to eat, too. Stimulus payments will increase our gargantuan national debt, but if we could bring all of our soldiers home, that would definitely save billions. And that’s an entirely different subject. ------------ About the author: Timothy N. Stelly is a poet, essayist, novelist and screenwriter from northern California. His novel, HUMAN TRIAL, is the first part of a sci-fi trilogy and is available from Amazon.com, allthingsthatmatterpress.com and in e-book format at mobipocket.com. Visit me at: http://www.myspace.com/pittwit website: http://stellbreadO@tripod.com Email: stellbread@yahoo.com 
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