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://
Yeah, I heard about this on the radio yesterday. My question is: will it really boost the economy (since it's our own dollars being returned to us in the first place)? Here's a couple of interesting articles on the subject:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2008/01/18/economic-retardant-package/
http://www.taxfoundation.org/blog/show/22891.html
Thanks for your "hi" on my blog, Lori!
ReplyDeleteCan you believe that our boys are now older than our girls were at the zoo???
Where on earth does the time go???
Re: your topic,
I can hardly wait for the ads from all of the major electronics stores "Cash your rebate check here! (as a down payment on your plasma tv)
Heidi, I read one of those this morning. I agree... Its like giving back what we already had, "used money", or money we already paid in. I had this discussion with my old boss (CEO at the Bank) and he had the same spin on it. He also agreed that you can tell people what the "right thing" to do is, but greed and desire out weigh responsibility. And then we discussed the lack of money in my savings! hehehehehe
ReplyDeleteSteff, YAY! I am so glad you came over to the dark side (my depressing money, colder then the north pole, bad music posts)! And no, I cannot believe it! Our boys were JUST sitting up on their own when we were together last! We need to get together - maybe this summer on the west side of Wisconsin. WE CAN SPEND OUR REBATES TOGETHER!!! hehehehehehe
And Heidi, you could join us!!! :):):)
ReplyDeleteSweet. I'm not too far from the west side of Wisc. Just so long as we can stop in Stillwater!
ReplyDeleteYa you betcha!!! (I had to!)
ReplyDeleteI love Stillwater! One of those friends I talked about earlier was married to the son of the man who owned the Freight House and Sunsets (in Hudson). We used to live it up down there. My favorite place in Stillwater to eat... The Dock. The best catfish in the world!
;)
Actually, you have one slight thing off on your post, it's not just for working and with kids...OK, well, actually I guess it is, what it isn't is a tax rebate cause some collecting on it are ones that don't even pay in and some that won't be able to collect on it are ones that do pay in...but oh well. I plan to put it to my student loan...and pay that puppy off!! (and maybe have a LITTLE fun with it)
ReplyDeleteI guess everything I have read has called it a tax rebate - at least that is what they are calling the "checks". Economic Stimulus, boost, rebate. All the same. Its still money they expect us to shop with. :)
ReplyDelete