Uncle Sam has decided to spend $850 Billion to stimulate the U.S. economy. Finding someone who can explain just what the money will be spent on is not an easy task. But one thing is clear – none of it is coming directly back to us, the taxpayers.

Say what you want about President Bush. I know a lot of people don’t like him, and I do understand why. But put aside those feelings for a moment and consider this – twice during his presidency, the government sent money back to us. That is the only stimulus that ever made any sense to me. If you want us to spend some more dough, give us the money. Bailing out failing corporate giants and shoring up bank reserves seems somehow less effective than handing me a wad of cash.

If you think I am being too simplistic, consider the amount of money that is involved here. $850 billion is too big a number for most people to really wrap their heads around. The latest census estimate that I could find has the population pegged at 303,824,640. That means that the economic stimulus package costs $2797.67 PER PERSON in the U.S. Let’s assume a generous allowance for the cost of distributing that money back to the taxpayers and call it a round $2700 per person.

I think getting a check for $10,800 for my family of four would stimulate my economic situation more than would the knowledge that the government is securing some shaky existing mortgage loans. Which would do more to help American automakers survive: a government loan to keep them afloat for a few more months or millions of taxpayers with a sudden and unexpected wad of cash in their pocket?

I know, I know – the economy of the United States is a complex and multilayered system with many inter-dependencies. I get how complex the problem is. I just don’t think the solution has to be as complicated as our elected officials are making it. Ask yourself: would you rather get your money back into your hands, or trust Uncle Sam to fix things for us?

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