And in terms of accentuating the problem, the government wrote the book on it;)  But I think the idea is to look like Bush is doing something HUGE that is maybe not so huge -- always the politician's job!

I think if people who receive the checks actually spend the money instead of writing down debt or paying a bill they would have otherwise paid (like a car note) it will help. The issue is how businesses that look forward see this...and if it causes them to order more goods in preperation of a buying boom (more orders, more jobs to help fill those orders, more taxes paid by those hired to fill the orders) it all sounds ok...but that is in theory.

Less Taxes and less Government are always good. I don't know how $800 can make a difference, but I'll take it. I got this in a recent e-mail. I don't know if it's true.....

Subject:        Taxes - a great analogy of how they work

"Tax Cuts" - A Simple Lesson In Economics.....

While you're watching the political commercials and listening to the politicians spin their web
around unsuspecting and misinformed people...the following is a "Reality" lesson in
economics.

The Top 1% of highest paid people in the US earn 21% of all income and pay 37.5% of all
taxes
The Top 5% of highest paid people in the US earn 35% of all income and pay 56.5% of all
taxes
The Top1 0% of highest paid people in the US earn 46% of all income and pay 67% of all taxes
The Top 25% of highest paid people in the US pay 84% of all taxes
The Top 50% of highest paid people in the US pay 96.5% of all taxes
The Bottom 50% of the earners in the US only pay 3.5% of all taxes
Just in case some are not completely clear on this issue, we hope the following will help. Let's
put tax cuts in terms everyone can understand.
Suppose that every day, ten people go out for dinner. The bill for all ten comes to $100. If they
paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four people (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
And the tenth person (the richest) would pay $59.
The ten people ate dinner in the restaurant every day and seemed quite happy with the
arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good
customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily meal by $20." So, now dinner
for the ten only cost $80.. The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes.
So, the first four people were unaffected. They would still eat for free. But what about the other
six, the paying customers? How could they divvy up the $20 windfall so that everyone would
get his 'fair share'? The six people realized that $20 divided by six Is $3.33. But if they
subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth person and the sixth person would each
end up being 'PAID' to eat their meal. So, the restaurant owner suggested that since they liked
the old arrangement, they should split the bill using the same proportions they used before.
They agreed and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.
The fifth person, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings).
The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28% savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to eat for free. But once
outside the restaurant, the people began to compare their savings.
"I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the sixth person. He pointed to the tenth person
"but he got $101" "Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth person. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's
unfair that he got ten times more than me!" "That's true!!" shouted the seventh person. "Why
should he get $10 back when I got only $2? The wealthy get all the breaks!"
'Wait a minute," yelled the first four people in unison. 'We didn't get anything at all. The
system exploits the poor!" The nine people surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth person didn't show up for dinner, so the nine sat down and ate without
him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't
have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The
people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too
much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up at the table anymore

I agree with steve less taxes and less goverment.

The interesting thing is that in truth, no one receives any direct benefit from the money collected from federal income taxes because that money goes straight toward paying off the debt incurred by our government and not one penny of it pays for government services.

Our government borrows every dollar that it spends so that means each dollar that is introduced into our economy represents 1 dollar of debt....think about that for a minute... Now understand that the unprecedented amount of dollars being borrowed and spent right now in the name of "security" and the war in Iraq will eventually make their way into the economy further diluting the value of the dollar. So, we have another drawn out conflict where there will be no clear winner and an economy being further crippled on account of it. Where exactly is the benefit for American citizens? Not to mention the price being paid in blood by our service men and women.

An American dollar bill was once worth 100 cents (100%) Today, a one dollar federal reserve note which is backed by nothing, has an equivalent buying power that a nickel had in 1910. This is a direct result of inflation due to the FED controlling our money, big government, and out of control spending. What do you suppose a dollar will be worth 10 or 20 years from now?

The cost of goods and services are not increasing as people tend to perceive, the value of the dollar is decreasing...

"We have, in this country, one of the most corrupt institutions the world has ever known. I refer to the Federal Reserve Board. This evil institution has impoverished the people of the United States and has practically bankrupted our government. It has done this through the corrupt practices of the moneyed vultures who control it."
- Congressman Louis T. McFadden in 1932 (Rep. Pa)

"It would appear that there could be no subject of more supreme importance to the people of the United States than an understanding of money and its powers. It is remarkable, and a fact of surpassing importance, that the provision of the Constitution of the United States authorizing Congress exclusively to coin money and regulate the value thereof has been overlooked by American statesmen. Their failure to perceive the deep significance of this language of the Constitution has resulted in the indefensible expansion and contraction of money by private persons, bringing on monetary depressions periodically."
- Senator Robert L. Owen, "Mr. Owen was chairman of the Senate Banking Committee in 1913, and managed the Federal Reserve Act legislation. It is strange that he, a then ‘statesman,' overlooked the Constitutional provision that said definitely that Congress could not surrender its powers to a private corporation." (Source- The Legalized Crime of Banking and a Constitutional Remedy (1958), by Silas Walter Adams)

http://1776solution.blogspot.com/2007/11/when-our-money-was-our-property.html

Chris - I agree, that is why I say that the govt balance sheet is worse than mine and the govt needs the money more than I do (in that respect)