So American go spend that gift card and do your part in the stimulation process!
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Gift Card Stimulus
Give the American people something that we know they want and can use... a gift card, rather than a check in the mail that will most likely get deposited at a bank. As Dan Newman says: "By sending every taxpayer a $2,000 debit card, the government stimulates spending directly." Furthermore, the card would not be deposited into banks (the problem with the previous rebate checks) and if they had a "defined expiration time, perhaps a year, the program could help ... while other program (included in the stimulus bill) get underway." Such a gift card could be used to buy clothes, food, travel, for example, with the hope of stimulating both the local businesses and our economy.
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As careful as I was to avoid the phrase "the stimulation process," I still appreciate the thought!
Tax cuts have proven themselves the wrong approach to such pressing trouble. They may have other benefits, and I support expanding exemptions from the Alternative Minimum Tax, for example, but we shouldn't confuse them with immediate stimulus. When your house is on fire, there are things to do before choosing a new sprinkler system.
Don't underestimate the burning need. The 600,000 jobs lost last month are most remarkable in that they represent only one sixth of the the total losses since the start of the recession. We need relief now, while all other plans take root.
The $2,000 gift card isn't meant to be a full solution. It's a tool we can put in the hands of every American, right now, this week.
Here's the original column
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/06/AR2009020603195.html
Dan
http://callaspade.blogspot.com/
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