Common Ground

I'd have no trouble spending it locally - spent over $200.00 on last trip to grocery store! I know you didn't ask, and it looks like it will be coming, but there's reasons I have for not wanting the handout. Yeah, right now, just a month after Christmas bills hit the fan, most people I know would gladly welcome money. But where is it coming from? Will the economy get so much better that the loan for it will be paid off and more? I fear that by doing this every time the economy takes a dump we'll come to expect this sort of thing. Then what happens? Too much dependency eventually leads to loss of productivity.

I guess I kind of disagree with you on a couple of points.  Sure I think that some people should dump the money back into the economy but with so many people in deep credit card debt I would strongly suggest that you take that money and try to pay down your credit cards. The sooner they are paid off the sooner you will have more disposable income to put into the economy.  No reason to go out and buy a new TV or clothes when you are wallowing in debt.  Now if you aren't in debt I would urge you to spend the money but as you mention in your article, spend it on something useful like a car repair or pet supplies (I would recommend buying them locally too, at LDC Pet Supply on 164).

Where I disagree with you (and this is always a bone of contention for me) is that you should spend it on an American Car.  I am so sick of people urging others to buy "American."   Its these same people  who have no problem buying all kinds of foreign made goods from TVs to sneakers but for some reason when someone buys a foreign car they are somehow betraying their country?  Give me a break.  

My Honda Accord is more American than several "American" brands. Honda has a plant in Ohio that employs over 15,000 people.  Suppose we all stop buying "foreign cars" what happens to those 15,000 American workers?  Is Chrysler or Ford going to hire them?  Highly unlikely.

When an American car company can build an attractive, reliable car that holds its value on par with a Honda or Toyota then I may consider one but until then I will continue to drive foreign cars.

For Fivepoints; I was going to expand on how American some cars are. I decided not to get too heavy for the blog but I'll take this opportunity to say some more on the subject.  First off, I own two cars, a Pontiac and a Subaru.  I bought the Subaru at the time that General Motors was a major shareholder in them and I owned GM stock.  That has since changed and was sold to Toyota.  For a company vehicle, I have a Toyota Sienna van. It is built in Evansville Indiana where the company I work for has a store.  No doubt many of our customers make their living making Toyotas.

I also have two motorcycles.  One is a Honda Goldwing which states right on that huge engine that it is made in the USA. FWIW, some Harley Davidson components, the shocks I believe, are made by a Honda owned company. Yes, the domestic versus foreign lines are very blury.

To further confuse things, my Subaru Forester is made in Japan while the Subaru Outback is made in Indiana, along with some Kia's.  I pass that factory on my way to Evansville again passing the Toyota Factory.

So yes, I'm well aware of the difficulty of buying an American vehicle. That is why I pointed out some that are either made in Wisconsin or have components that are made in Wisconsin.

I do believe that American brands of carmakers do need some help. They have had to negotiate union benefits for many years and are strapped with healthcare and retiree benefits that foreign brands that are made in America are not saddled with. My father worked his whole career at General Motors and when he retired, was well taken care of by his benefits which continued to help my mother after he died. I don't think Toyota retirees will be so lucky.

For Brien; Your question asking where the money is going to come from is a good one. I believe the answer is from "our" taxes. There are those that think we are overtaxed and this is putting it back into the economy where it should have been in the first place. There are also those that say it is a redistribution of wealth, which it can be seen as, seeing that those that pay the most taxes get the least amount or none and I'm advocating that even those that pay no taxes get a check. However, that is not about redistribution of wealth, it is the best way to get the money into circulation.