GETTING CASH TO THE PUBLIC
Getting cash into the hands of those who would spend it is neither a new nor revolutionary idea.
After the 2007-2008 crash, the Bush administration's stimulus program -- a worthy endeavor but way too weak to do much good -- included rebates on tax revenues going out to 52 million ordinary citizens. The average stimulus check was $250, and almost universally was spent quickly on life-essentials, thus priming the economic pump.
In addition to the stimulus motive, one must also fold in the moral imperative in our national DNA since America's founding: The Preamble to the Constitution stipulates that an essential function of our government is to "promote the general welfare." And so, we look after one another and ensure that an economic safety-net exists for those who, through no fault of their own, are suffering in the wake of a failed "trickle-down" approach.
There are a number of major initiatives and programs that result in getting governmental funds into the wallets of millions of ordinary citizens:
** Earned-income tax credit. This 1975 law provides for a refundable federal income tax credit for low to moderate-income individuals and families. When EITC exceeds the amount of taxes owed, it results in a tax refund to those the employed who claim and qualify for the credit. Such a program doesn't help any during the year for cash-flow purposes, but it does allow poor folks to keep their earned income sans taxes. In short, knowing that they will receive a tax credit or check at the end of the tax year certainly helps out a lot.
** Social Security checks are spread out over years to our elderly citizens, to make sure there is some monetary floor under their feet in their less-productive period of life. Those Social Security recipients worked hard to earn those monthly checks -- in short, they paid into that program for decades and are entitled to those funds -- and, together with other initiatives, they constitute an important underpinning for society's elderly.
** Government "make-work" programs, such as FDR's WPA, CCC or our generation's hiring of at-risk teenagers in the summers. Today's infrastructure needs are massive and immediate; a new, temporary WPA- or CCC-type program -- where hard-working infrastructure laborers would get much-needed checks -- would do wonders for the economy and to the sense of self-worth of millions of workers currently in involuntary "retirement."
Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
2
2
1
