Is the Economic Stimulus Package a Farce?
By Dr. Carl S. Parnell
According to many expert economists, the economy of the United States is headed toward a recession or definitely a major slowdown. However, many Americans, based on their current personal finances, would affirm that America does have a recession already. But, in an effort to help the economy, President Bush and Congress have approved a $168 billion dollar economic stimulus package to help to jump start the economy. As a result, America’s sluggish economy would hopefully begin an upward trend once again. Each individual taxpayer would get a $600 rebate check and each couple would get a $1200 rebate check. The United States government expects this extra money to be spent immediately by American taxpayers in order to increase the demand for American goods and the creation of American jobs.
However, like so many government assistance programs, the outcome of this direct assistance would probably be contrary to what the government was expecting. Most Americans will not be spending any extra income on the purchase of new American goods and very few new jobs, if any, would be created. Most Americans will use their rebate checks for two main purposes. They will pay some on their huge credit card debts and they will use some to purchase a few gallons of gasoline. Therefore, America’s economic slowdown would be right back at square one. In other words, the band-aid approach used by the government would not work.
There is another problem that would affect the economic woes that Americans are dealing with at this time, too. The Democratically-controlled House of Representatives has passed a $3 trillion dollar budget, which includes a $683 billion dollar tax increase. If enacted into law, this new budget would eliminate many of President Bush’s tax cuts which are scheduled to end in the year 2010. But, is it logical for Congress to approve the largest single tax increase in the history of the United States at this time? Of course, the answer is “NO.” Since many Americans are already on the verge of defaulting on their mortgage payments and their payments on other major consumer items, a tax increase of any type would ultimately destroy their American dream. But, I guess this is what Americans should expect from politicians who enjoy spending (wasting) other people’s money.
Evidently, many of America’s elected politicians do not understand that most Americans would like to use more of their hard-earned money for their families, instead of giving more of it to the United States government. Therefore, increasing taxes to pay for the many social programs backed by the federal government may seem to benefit the American society at large. But, how is this nonsensical maneuver by the Democratically-controlled Congress going to prevent a recession that is about to engulf the United States economy? Let’s use some simple math to prove the point at hand. The economic stimulus package is putting $168 billion dollars into the economy. Congress’ tax increase would take $683 billion dollars out of the pockets of Americans who are already in dire economic straits. If $168 billion dollars is subtracted from $683 billion dollars, the American taxpayers and the American economy would have a net loss of $515 billion dollars. Get the picture.
Also, if the U.S. government continues to increase the amount of money taken out of each dollar earned by American workers, it would be very possible that, at some point in time, the government would get more money out of each dollar than the person who earned it. If this does happen, a socialistic economy could be right around the corner. Of course, those politicians who enjoy spending taxpayer’s money on pork barreling and earmark projects would have a field day. This constant overtaxing would also possibly put an end to the middle class in America. Then everyone, except the rich corporate giants, famous Hollywood movie stars, overpaid professional athletics, and high-salaried politicians, would be grouped into a new socio-economic group called the “Penny Pinchers,” since that would be all American workers and their families would have to purchase the things they would need to sustain their lives. But, at least, the United Nations would finally be happy, since one of its major goals is to redistribute wealth throughout the world. Therefore, since most Americans do not want to do anything to benefit the United Nations, Congress needs to rethink its historical tax increase. In fact, if the truth is known, Congress might need to increase the amount of the economic stimulus package, instead of budgeting billions of dollars to be used to fund government projects that do not benefit all Americans.
Carl S. Parnell, Ed.D.
