from a layman's perspective...
obama is proposing the idea of another big economic stimulus package. i don't know all of the details, but it sounds like it would include tax breaks for businesses, as well as tax breaks for middle class individuals, similar to the stimulus checks we got last spring/summer.
i don't know what to think of it all... my man ron paul would say NO, that this is not a solution to the greater institutional problem, so i would have to lean that way since i blindly follow him (haha).
but, i do know that i don't agree with the individual rebates. sure, i won't mind getting a $1000 check this spring.
the point of these rebates, however, is to get people spending money, stimulating the economy, and eventually creating jobs, etc. this method will not achieve this goal, imo.
1) i know i won't spend the money; i have some debts that i would love to knock out (we had to spend the last rebate check on car repairs). i'm sure a lot of people wouldn't spend it in the way that was originally intended.
2) even if people spend their rebate money, how do we know that they are spending it in a place that will truly feed a starving market?
i think that if they want this to work, they have to a) identify areas of need in the economy; core areas that will in turn help stimulate the rest of the market (i.e. the auto industry), and b) give people 'coupons' instead of cash. then we would know that any money being spent would be productive.
for example, they could give people the choice of either a $1000 coupon to go towards buying a new car, or ________________. i don't know, i just think that's a better solution than the one proposed.
side note: if there is a silver lining to this recession for our country as a whole, it's that people will have to postpone their retirement, possibly buying us some more time to figure out this social security deal. stinks, none the less. i have to assume that this will push back even my retirement.
