No free lunch

Today, I began to read an AP article entitled, "Hundreds of thousands of workers won't get tax rebates." That didn't sound fair, so I read on -- until I suddenly remembered that all this talk of "stimulus" is irrelevant, and then I lost interest.

Rebates are an awful idea, devised in this election year only to endear politicians to the voters. There are actually some voters who will believe that they are getting something for nothing, and will run out and vote for those magnanimous people who say they love them. The truth is that every penny of the "stimulus" is added to the national debt, most of which is in interest payments to China on the money the government has borrowed and will borrow. Therefore, not giving it away, for whatever reason, is a financial plus, and if the recipients would send it back to Washington to reduce the debt, that would produce the best outcome for the country.