How would you structure a stimulus package?

[ralph124c]

Shovel $100 bills off the backs of trucks, in urban areas?

[Least_Original_User_Name_Ever]

@jtgain

My problem is with the half-assed way the U.S., especially the Bush administration does things. He tries to have the best of both worlds. On one hand, he wants to “return money to the people who paid it” in the form of tax cuts and stimulus packages, but on the other hand he likes big government spending like No Child Left Behind, and Medicare Prescription Drugs. We won’t even mention the war in Iraq

So what we have is a confused policy of the government trying to provide a high level of services with comparitively little money. If we had either a strictly Reagan type policy or a strictly Roosevelt type policy (both ends of the spectrum) we would do better.

A one time stimulus package is a shell game trying to prop up the economy before the election, until his successor has to make tough decisions.

Now, I have always been for smaller government and tax cuts, but we can’t have everything on the flip side…

The thing is, when you ask your average American Jane and Joe if they want more services, if they want either universal healthcare or something closer to it or something closer to universal funding for education, they’ll say they do. The money for the stuff doesn’t grow on trees. Increase taxes.

Back to the question, I don’t like the stimulus package. If you’re 600 bucks from prostitution, you’ll continue to be close to it for a while. If you’re going to do something like this, make it a sizeable portion. You know, something along the lines of a trillion dollars for every man, woman, and child comes out to real money for people. Your stereotypical megarich can use it to fill up the tank in the yacht. Everyone else can use it to get out of debt or…you know…eat. Most would appreciate an infusion of 25 thousand bucks.

[Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor]

Infrastructure repair.

Our bridges/levees/dams are crumbling.

[Least_Original_User_Name_Ever]

@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor

Infrastructure repair.

Our bridges/levees/dams are crumbling.

If I were king for a day, I’d do exactly this. People that need work, there’s a countrywide rebuilding of our infrastructure. Internet, power, roads, dams, all that. Update the whole thing.

[BrainGlutton]

@Least Original User Name Ever

If I were king for a day, I’d do exactly this. People that need work, there’s a countrywide rebuilding of our infrastructure. Internet, power, roads, dams, all that. Update the whole thing.

Agreed. We really need a new . . . a new policy . . . a new arrangement . . . something like that . . .

[Least_Original_User_Name_Ever]

@BrainGlutton

Agreed. We really need a new . . . a new policy . . . a new arrangement . . . something like that . . .

A new…agreement? A new compact? Aw, hell…it’s right on the tip of my tongue…

…arrangement?

[The_Them]

WPA. Yes indeedy! (I do NOT mean that sarcastically. We need it bad.)

If you’re gonna run up the deficit, get something out of it. Public works is needed; I shudder to think how many people risk their lives on decaying bridges every day of the week.

Absolute hijack: you do NOT have to be a taxpayer to get the “Economic Stimulus.” Found this out a couple days ago (and filed this morning). The IRS is sending out notices to those of us who live on “untaxable” income, that we too, may jump on the gravy train. This should have been intuitively obvious; no way are retirees gonna hold still when bux are involved.

And retirees deserve to join in, BTW. And many others.

No lectures, please, about where the money really comes from. I know that part. This wasn’t my idea.