February 20, 2008
Spending Our Way
To Prosperity, Not!

Ignorant.  My knowledge of economics is zilch.  Econ 101 was mystifying right from “guns or butter”.  The professor said you couldn’t have both.   Why, I wondered, should one have to choose between second amendment rights and dry toast?  It was suggested that line of thinking warranted dropping the course and I did exactly that. 

Not that a lack of knowledge precludes having an opinion.  I’m a columnist. With that as a background, know the recent bipartisan agreement of sending a six to fifteen hundred dollar check to most US citizens in an effort to avoid a recession makes not a lick of sense.  Let me get this straight, our buried in debt nation is supposed to spend its way back to the good times? 

“When you dig yourself into a hole the first step toward getting out is quit shoveling,” is an ancient truth.  Except to our government.  The national debt has reached an unfathomable level but we’re told the solution to the situation is to make it even larger. The emperors not only have no clothes, but a hole in their head. 

The fact both Republicans and Democrats agree on the concept should tell you it’s a bad idea.  These are people incapable of agreeing on the time of day.  But November’s on the horizon. Money must be the re-election answer. So the latest economic Band-Aid is to give back some of the tax dollars we gave them and then just sit back ‘til everything’s “all better”.    Excuse me.  Are we really suppose to believe the way to end a recession is by making sure every home in America has a Hi-Def TV?

If spending is good for what ails this country then the clown who reportedly paid a scalper $77,000 for two Super Bowl tickets a couple of weeks back should be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. 

Men of America, here’s your golden opportunity.  When the wife asks, “What’s with the new bass boat and trailer in the driveway?”  Just look her in the eye and say, “Honey, I know we can’t afford it, but we need to sacrifice for the good of our country. America needs us now in this darkest hour!” 

What happened to all the hand wringing about Americans strangling on credit card debt?  If Congress insists on tapping the treasury, why not send the dough to the credit card companies and credit peoples account? Or make this latest governmental giveaway a part of the income tax refund check?  

That’s not gonna happen because inside the Beltway hype and sound bites rule, so a separate check the treasury can’t cover is headed your way in May.  LA Times columnist Joel Stein wondered, based on past performance, if there isn’t a strong possibility it will cost the feds around five grand for each six hundred dollar check mailed out. 

And we haven’t even discussed the really scary part.  What if people take their governmental bonus bucks straight to a savings account?  Does this mean the economy is totally screwed?  And the next effort toward fighting off a recession will involve sending Best Buy and Circuit City gift cards to taxpayers?