We've Tried Trickle Down...Let's Trickle Up!

In spite of the financial dilemma swirling around us, we are optimistic. But it is this very financial dilemma which propelled our new President into the White House by a substantial margin. As he tries to push his stimulus package through the Congress with bipartisan support, many polititians are saying 'not so fast'. $850 billion is a number which does not roll easily off the tongue and that's just the start of the problem. In discussion with another ordinary American citizen yesterday, I was struck by the simplicity of something he said. Instead of throwing more good money at these bad money managers, why not give it to the people? At first, it might sound crazy, but is it? Let's examine the logic. As I write this, there are approximately 303,700,000 people in the United States. Suppose, instead of giving the money to the bankers, car makers, insurance giants, Congress were to give $100,000 (a random number) to each American adult citizen? Obviously, there would be some conditions...for example, no one making over $1 million, no legal or illegal immigrants, no waivers for the amount of children in a family, just a flat $100,000. One of the conditions could be that you have to spend at least half of it within the first three months of receipt. The major benefit would be that the recovery would begin right away from the bottom up. Here's how...
1. people would buy that new American car (one of the conditions)
2. the housing market would stabilize with new home purchases and payments on past due mortgages
3. the travel industry would benefit by people taking cruises, vacations, trips
4. restaurants would be full of people with money to dine out again
5. the entertainment industry, from commercial to Broadway would be strong
5. every business, from the Mom & Pops to the mega superstores would hear cash registers ringing again
And, best of all, even with the $100,000 per adult figure, we'd still be about $820 billion less than what they're looking to spend now.
Just like with the Obama campaign, we should make this a grassroots movement to get the money into the hands of the people. If the debt will be ours anyway, at least give us the chance to spend it the way we want and revive the economy in the process. Now, don't get me wrong, I am not against the President and I want him to succeed. He is one of the brightest who has surrounded himself with the brightest economic minds available. But has anyone looked at this from our angle? Citizens in danger of foreclosure, those in debt, those who are homeless, uninsured, and unemployed? People didn't think he could be a serious candidate, much less elected. So why should the 'out-of-the-box' thinking end with the election? This would be real change! Trickle down economics doesn't work. Let's try trickle up for a change.

Lorna Rainey
Author: "Native Intelligence"
www.nativeintelligencethebook.com