We are like little children that need immediate gratification. We have to learn to really accomplish anything of value takes a lot more than "twinkie" logic.

You know, it is amazing how those that look forward to a raise every year. what does 50 dents get you. 1040 extra a year and look at 800. huh.

We tend to get the government we deserve.  If the majority of us want immediate gratification, these are the kinds of quick fixes we'll get.  What would be a much better start would be reducing the regressive payroll tax that all employed persons, and especially we, the self-employed, are suffering under.

I thought about the rebate yesterday when I drove past a shopping center in Frederick.  The parking lot was full.  Same thing in Germantown. 

I believe folks are already out spending the money.

Put mine in the New Orleans basket.  Unbelievable!

Good point.  Take welfare.  Welfare does'nt alleviate poverty.  It propagates poverty.  When people get used to receiving a welfare check, that only allows a poverty existance, they find no reason to work at improving their existance.

Ah, 1968!  RFK caught a lot of people's imaginations.  Your comment brought back some pretty intense memories.

I agree with a lot of what you say John - the main problem is Government spending is massively out of control - and at the same time personal spending is equally out of control. You need to fix those things (and the second one is easier to fix than most people realize) and THEN bring on the tax cuts - not rebates, but CUTS. Cutting taxes increases yield. it has been proved over and over again.

I think that any discretionary income addition has the potential to impact small pockets of the economy. It will not impact the housing market. In my area, you can not buy a garage for $100,000. The impact of an extra $1600 will be felt at Charlestown Races and Slots, Taco Bell, Popeye's, and WalMart. You will see a spike in the latest Nike Lebron James model shoes, the demand for the Wii will continue, and the pain at the pump will be a bit easier to bear for a month or so. In some neighborhoods the $1 increase in cigarette tax will not be felt for a few months, the 50% increase in water bills will ease a while, the 75% increase in electricity will be offset, the 33% rise in the cost of perishiables will be held a bay and the rising cost of non-prescription drugs will be dealt with another time.

$1,600 will vanish quickly. After all it amounts to increasing your wages the next year by .33 cents per hour. If you are frugal and use it incrementaly over the year, you will increase your buying power by $15.38 per week. Of course, it will be taxable income and next year, those at the lowest tax bracket will discover that the free $800/$1600 only cost them $120/$240.

That sort of diminishes the ripple effect. I believe in the ripple effect of actions. I also understand the principals of physics and the truth in opposite and equal reactions. In order for a ripple to occur, the ripple causing agent must weigh more than the area in which the ripple is generated. (For a quick visual, picture the ripple caused by a feather landing in a pond).

It is my humble opinion that there is not enough weight to the instrument. In most homes, it will be a nice cache of spending money. In some homes, it will be a little pocket money. In the upper levels, it will just add to that months investments.

If the government is seeking to really bolster the economy, it will be necessary to step outside the box, isolate the current problems and create solutions that will deal with the problems rather than spend time debating causes, and using a bucket of paint to cover a blemish. The war in Iraq is draining the treasury. The impact of our involvement and our sabre rattling with regards to Iran have resulted in oil prices reaching $100 per barrel. The mortgage problem is not the amount due, it is the portion that people can not afford to pay.

$800 per person is just shoving that sweet tasty twinkie in our mouth.

I'm not too sure people know what the twinkie defense is all about.

You can read up on it, but it's basically about a lawyer who claimed his defendant (Dan White, a city supervisor who assassinated San Francisco may George Mascone and supervisor Harvey Milk in 1978) should be found guilty of manslaughter instead of first degree murder, because his client "gobbled Twinkies, which blasted sugar through his arteries and drove him into a murderous frenzy", which diminished the capacity of his mental state, and was therefore not capable of premeditating the murders.

According to a San Francisco homicide detective, in 1984 (after White's release), White confessed to premeditating the murders, and also planned on killing Carol Silver and Willie Brown (Mayor of SF between 1996 and 2004).

In other words, the twinkie defense was all BS... Duh....

But somehow they were able to convince the jury... 

John, thank you for commenting on my blog.  I am not insulted.  But we are in the people business in real estate.  And if we grow our business by helping our customers get what they want (this involves emotion). Then why are other agents telling me "it is what it is."  Without the emotion, you can sell a house, can you?  I was just checking.  And with this emotion, comes all the hard work that someone (like buyers) don't want to acknowlege.  Do as you would want done to you, is what I believe.  Just thinking outloud.  Lu

J-Mac, i would have to agree with some of the above that we get the government we deserve...and suffer the consequences...
As for the housing fiasco, there was a commercial by the NAR that hubby caught last night, preaching the same old bs - "buy a home and it will tripple in value, blah, blah, blah..." It's freaking insane!
Ok, exhaling now...

Dear friends - Thank you for your comments. My use of the term twinkie defense is only related to the original version in that they both are bunk. I tried to couple the visual of a twinkie into the blog. I don't know if we get the government we deserve. I sometimes feel that the dumbing down of America has left many uncapable of understanding the problems we face. In addition, the leaders that we have in power have apparently created a schism between differing camps that has left both sides oblivious to the problems that exist outside party lines.

John...New Orleans definitely needs help.  However, the spotlight is always on N.O.  I spent three weeks as a Red Cross volunteers in Gulfport/Biloxi, Mississippi.  It was absolutely devastated by Hurrican Katrina.  What is being done there?

Thanks for mentioning the ongoing problems in the Gulf.

Kathleen