Approxiamately 117,000,000 Americans are potentially about to receive something that is fairly unprecedented. A "rebate" for working and having children.
The first thing my husband said to me last night (after a really crappy day mind you) was "we are going to get $1,800 in July!".
All of these awful thoughts ran through my head...
- It will be spent in his mind before we even receive it
- Guaranteed not to be on something we need, or put in savings
- It will be spent in my mind before we even receive it
- Ditto
- We will be like alot of the other 117 million watching our mail boxes and wondering "when will it get here" and praying that "those checks" don't clear the bank first because we got impatient and spent it before it got here
Why am I complaining? Why do I make this such a negative post?
Because money is evil. We earn more to spend more. And the government "gets it", so they are waving it like a little carrot in front of our noses to "boost our economy" by expecting us to spend it. They aren't suggesting that we do with it what most of us are in dire need of doing... Saving. They are saying that the economy needs us to shop more, so they will give us an allowance in which to do so.
But here is the problem...A large majority of the people who will receive this caviat are already in debt. Living paycheck to paycheck. Refinancing. Borrowing. Refinancing. Working hard to make ends meet. Never quite getting there because advertisers have the fools market. They know how to make widgets and wazoo's, gadgets and gizmo's that we don't need look so good we can't live without them. And now the government is pimping us out.
Soon we will be flooded with mailers and ads and t.v. commercials with "Zero Interest, BUY NOW" car's, big screen tv's, recreational vehicles, large ticket items that will inject 100 times the value of the rebate back into the economy. Its great for the country. But it sucks for those who really should be saving it.Including us.
I will never forget September 1st, 2001. There are many reasons why...- My mom was dying
- My step father was in the Army
- And our FIRST truck payment came - at 9+% interest
- The world stood still and mourned
- We all no longer felt safe on our own turf
- My mom was still dying
- My stepfather was still in the Army
- INTEREST RATES DROPPED TO 0%
But we still ended up in a recession. So will this boost in the economy really save us? And if it does, will it save the millions who are already in debt?
I have my doubts. But I am watching my mailbox.
Saturday edit to my post:
Heidi posted some very good articles in my comments, and I didn't want them to be overlooked, so I am posting them here:
http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2008/01/18/economic-retardant-package/http://
