Still happy about Stimulus Checks???????

@Pitgull (1522)
United States
September 19, 2008 10:56am CST
I posted a discussion about 3 weeks ago, asking if you got your stimulus checks. I also questioned where all this money was coming from, and was seriously hoping people would not cash these checks. But like any seductress, people couldn't help it.... This week, I wondering if you are happy you spent that money on whatever it was you spent it on.... Do you know those "Stimulus Checks" raised our countries debt? Where did you think the money was coming from? The Iraq war? YES, as always....your pockets... I am 22 years old, and when I heard about these, I said it was a bad idea, I said where is the money coming from? Aren't we already in debt? Won't that just make matters worse, because people are now spending money we really don't have....? We need changes, and fast. Aren't you at all bothered that your money is being used to bail out AIG and friends, and yet they keep pushing you further and further under?
1 person likes this
9 responses
@jonesy123 (3948)
• United States
19 Sep 08
We spent ours a long time ago, back when they first started sending them out. We used it to pay down our credit card debt. I fully agree with what you are saying. But I rather have them spent the money on me than the war;) As to the bank and investment company bailouts... It's band-aids. Unfortunately, they are helping the investors of these institutions not really the little guy except for keeping the competition alive a bit more and loan rates down. But that's negligable. However, if they would let the market forces actively work, inflation would quickly grow out of control. Food, gas, life's essentials, a lot of people can barely keep up with that anymore. Tent cities have started to pop up. That's a bad sign. The last thing the government needs now is to have investors pull their money out of the market. That's why this is done, never mind the growing national debt. There is no real solution to this right now. That's also why neither candidate can offer us an economic plan, no matter how many conferences they hold with the greats of the the finance world. All we know is they don't want a repeat of the great depression. Safeguards are in place, but some are not working the way they are supposed to. Keep in mind although it looks like they are bailing out the rich right now. The great majority of Americans now have their retirement funds tied up in the stock market through mutual funds. Whether you have pensions, IRAs, 401ks, they are all heavily invested in that. If that comes crashing down on us, if banks and investment companies keep closing down, all those mutual funds that has our retirement funds tied up in will be gone, too.... So, as much as I personally hate the bailouts, hate that we reward those who turned a blind eye and essentially played lottery with our money instead of proceeding wisely, we need to establish some sort of life-support to the system. See, you are young, you can start over. Many of us can't. So we opt to increase the national debt and let the next generation (like you) deal with it. What really needs to be done is for Washington to stop wasting money on needless pet projects and a monstreous money draining bureaucracy. We need to start telling people to stop relying so much on the government to help them out with anything and everything and to figure out how to get by on their own, same for businesses. And yes, we need to stop being dependent on other countries. We have too many foreign investors holding major stakes in our country. And yes, they have the ability to mess with us, if they want to, they already are, just look at our oil dependency. I rather get my tax money back in form of the stimulus check then for the government to have the opportunity to misspend it and drag us even further down. I rather have a little more to fall back on, if push comes to fall. Okay, I'm getting off my soapbox now;)
@Pitgull (1522)
• United States
19 Sep 08
"See, you are young, you can start over. Many of us can't. So we opt to increase the national debt and let the next generation (like you) deal with it." This is the problem with America, do you understand what this is pushing onto the next generations? And yes I understand,But start over? I have felt like I was starting over for a long time..do you know that my father was in the United States Navy for 21 years, and I never met him until I was 21? He had another family he was looking after, never did a thing, never called, I didn't have so much as a picture. I didn't even know his name. So I have been trying to figure out how I can go to school, and pay for that debt, considering my family does not have the money to do so. Nonetheless deal with the debt for stupid moves made by these leaders, other people elected to mess things up even more, when even my young self understood what these problems would cause. Interesting how the Republicans are bailing out big businesses....didn't Bush say he was against that? What about the family businesses that have been closing during the Bush Admin? I am sorry about all these retirement funds, etc etc. But why trust these companies in the first place? These CEO's who make how much? But you let them gamble with your money... That also has to do with the trust you put in a business, where you send your money. Maybe there are other changes needed. It's also condoning bad business practices and does nothing to correct the actual problem. Why aren't these CEO's being held responsible, I am sure they have some secure assets elsewhere... This money does not exist....that's the problem. You're not getting anything back, it's creating a horrible deficit and securing a financial disaster for the future.
@Pitgull (1522)
• United States
20 Sep 08
I didn't get a stimulus check, I didn't want stimulus checks. It's stupidity. If people are pacified by something that is going to make things worse in the long run, I fear for America. At least you can admit you are selfish. The ones that don't, are running the country.
@jonesy123 (3948)
• United States
19 Sep 08
Actually, it's not quite the way you portray it as it is my generation already paying for the mistakes of the previous one that build this nice house of cards. See, it looked all nice and rosy under the Clinton administration, didn't it? Well, actually without the internet bubble that drove the stock market with all those new companies coming to bring us the nice innovations the computer made possible, we would have faced this dilemma back then already. Actually we did. Bush didn't take office until 2001, the market started crumbling in 1999. But even in the lovely 90's where we supposively deleted national debt we knew that social security was tremendously underfunded. Why, because the generations before us took money from there to fund their little projects. Well, the money won't be needed for a long time, right? Yeah, right. Since they saw a problem they thought, okay, let's start 401ks, IRAs, all those nice funds... more money into the already overvalued stock market. A disaster waiting to happen. Yes, the house of cards is coming down and yes, you can decide. Either let the older generation suffer. Hey they are old they can die. A bit ungrateful because they supported you when you were little. I know, you don't see that, it's the luxury of the youth, but it's true. No matter how bad your childhood there was somebody there to get you through it somehow, you got schooling and somehow funds for college, and yes, that's tax payers money. Somebody paid for the infrastructure long before you were born. Or you can support those people right now like they supported you and work on ways to avoid a disaster like this in the future. But let me tell you, as long as there are shelfish and greedy politicians with their own personal agenda, there won't be any change in the system. And I have yet to see one. None of the candidates currently running for president are in it for us, lol. As I see it, I can be shelfish myself right now and take the money and let the government bail us out any way they can. I agree, the stimulus check was a stupid idea but it pacified the masses and made them a bit more optimistic. Consumer outlook is also a great part of what drives the economy, btw. Doom and gloom does ruin an economy. I hope you didn't cash your stimulus check, that would be hypocritical now, wouldn't it? And even if the economy comes crashing down, I think you have no idea what you are facing in terms of starting over. An economical crash involves much more than tightening your belt. If the American economy should crash American won't be the same place anymore that you know now. There may even be civil unrest. With the current mood it wouldn't surprise me. You might want to carefully consider what you think should be thrown away. If the market forces are left to themselves right now, you might suffer much more than what you bargained for. Struggling to make it through college on your own is nothing compared to what you would face if push comes to fall.
1 person likes this
@CEVCEV (543)
20 Sep 08
I think that you are so right pitgull, there are some pretty similar things going on here in Bitain!!! 'GREED' has a hold of so many, as you say the temptation is too great for most. America and Britain are sinking fast and Ithink that our respective governments have known this for sometime but thought that they could 'ride the storm'. They have thought that our counties are infalable, but you just cannot carry on spending what you don't have indefinatly.
@Pitgull (1522)
• United States
20 Sep 08
Exactly. This money isn't even real!!!! People WAKE UP! It's this whole power-money facade and it's got to end. Thanks for your thoughts...I'd have to agree... Sorry, people bother me...I appreciate your comments :) EYES WIDE OPEN
1 person likes this
@xfahctor (14118)
• Lancaster, New Hampshire
19 Sep 08
Well, I never even saw mine, but I'm sure my ex wife put it to really good use........yeh........... I wasn't for the idea either. I had the same sentiments you did. It would cost too much and do nothing to stimulate anything except to stimulate a public debt to grow even more.
@Pitgull (1522)
• United States
19 Sep 08
Nice wording, "nothing to stimulate anything except to stimulate a public debt to grow even more." You are absolutely right. Sorry about the wife deal...at least you never spent it...we didn't get any, I tried to tell people not to spend it, but hey, a check comes in the mail, with your name on it, FROM the Government? Yeah, I guess it's hard to resist the temptation... What a shame..
• United States
20 Sep 08
as much as i agree with you that money came at a time that i really needed it. i couldn't help but use it. i really needed the money and it helped me a lot. i'm now back on my feet.
• United States
20 Sep 08
Doggone right I spent it. We have been trying for 3 years to get my husbands disability and are in debt up to our eyeballs! The money went to pay some bills. I figure if the feds are gonna keep me in the poor house, I'm going to take everything I can get from them. But that's another discussion waiting to happen.
@dookie03 (578)
• United States
20 Sep 08
I bought a 40' inch flat panel TV which was long overdue, i've had one of those old televisions that were getting a little too old for my place. I'm glad we got em it was kinda like an extra bonus, what i didn't like is that is what he wanted us to do. I wouldn't do anything for bush even if my life depended on it, unfortunately i also fell into the temptation of free money so i spent it as soon as i got it. At least the TV is going to last longer than he's going to be alive. LOL.
@rodney850 (2145)
• United States
19 Sep 08
Pitgul, I agree that the idea of "stimulus" checks was a reckless attempt to stop the bleeding which of course didn't work.(see stock market) What I would urge you to do, if you haven't already, is to cash that check! You see, no matter if you cash it or not, you will pay for it if you are gainfully employed! The money our government spends on stupid, lame-brained "pet" projects instead of letting its taxpayers have that money in the first place is criminal and it happens on both sides of the aisle--D or R and even some independants get their projects through.
@katsmeow1213 (28719)
• United States
19 Sep 08
Very few people agree with government decisions, but there's not a whole lot that can be done about it, except to vote at each and every election, and perhaps send letters to your congressmen. I also knew the moment these checks were issued that it was a bad idea. Not one person spent the money on what the government wanted them to spend it on. Every person in this nation is in debt, and that's where the majority of the money went. Unfortunatly our debt is just getting worse. What did I buy with my stimulus check? I bought a used van from another family. That family used my money to move to another state. Although it was a bad choice for the government, it helped my family. I have a family of 7, and we'd been surviving on 1 small car, a chevy cavalier, which we can not all fit into. We had to use our tax rebate to pay off our power bill, so having the stimulus check to buy a van was a life saver.
• United States
19 Sep 08
yeah it was a terrible idea, but of course people think its great because they got $1000 for free, to bad its costing them more than they thought