What is the best way for a government to stimulate an economy? By putting millions of “tax rebate” checks back into the hands of the taxpayers – even when an estimated 35 million checks will be going to people who did not pay into the income tax in the first place.

I will say that again: 35 million people will be getting money “back” from the IRS even though they did not pay income tax.

According to an article on MSNBC.com, the Republicans made a concession to the Democrats so millions of people who would not qualify for the rebate (because they do not earn enough income to qualify for paying the income tax) would get a check anyway. I am trying to contain my surprise. When it comes to balancing the budget, the Democratic Party equates balance with how fast they can get the national debt to reach the $10 trillion mark. I am not saying the Republican Party is better – you can look at the tax money spent on Iraq for an example – but giving tens of millions of people checks when they did not pay in the first place is ridiculous and bankrupting our government.

So the “tax rebate” check really is not a rebate at all except in name only; what it is, however, is pie-in-the-sky stupidity in an attempt to stimulate the economy.

If we are trillions of dollars in debt, where does the money for the stimulus package come from? Why, our friends in China and Saudi Arabia of course! Never mind our rapidly increasing trade debts with these countries, but why are we borrowing money from Saudi Arabia, where most of the Sept. 11 hijackers came from?

Why are we getting ourselves more in debt to stimulate the economy? If we are going into a recession, how many people are really going to spend their checks and not just deposit them into checking, savings or pay debts they are building? My head hurts trying to figure out how the Republicans and Democrats came to this stupidly psychotic idea in the first place.

Maybe if I can figure out how they get their heads so far up their asses I can repeat the process and understand their reasoning.

I have already argued for demolishing the income tax (“The income tax is unconstitutional and illegal,” Dec. 6, 2007) because of legal reasons, and this is further evidence our politicians do not know what they are doing with OUR money. To paraphrase from the political band Corporate Avenger, “Taxes are stealing and I get the feeling …” that, well, let’s just say screwed.

Ted Hamilton is a senior magazine journalism major and a columnist for the Daily Kent Stater. Contact him at [email protected].