| I had a crazy dream last night! And you were there, | | | | tax relief should be aimed at encouraging owners to |
| and you, and President Bush, and Ben Bernanke, and | | | | not only keep their current employees, but to hire more |
| my dog Togo was there too ( dog's name changed | | | | during this downtime. Giving business owners a sense |
| for copywrite reasons )! I was the Federal Reserve | | | | of financial security should give the workforce a sense |
| Chairman and it was my duty to take corrective | | | | of security as far as their field of work. If we know |
| actions to set this economy back on track. | | | | we will have our jobs, we spend. If we are not sure if |
| Well first off, I was sitting in my office when I got a call | | | | we will still have a job in a month or so, we don't |
| from the President. I asked where he was at the | | | | spend. Simple as that. |
| moment as I needed to speak with him and all of the | | | | * Some sort of luxury tax or a temporary cap on the |
| sudden he was right in front of me sitting on a big pink | | | | profits the oil companies make. As we suffer in what |
| elephant! He asked if I had the proposal ready for my | | | | is now a recession, oil companies have still been |
| big address later that afternoon, and as I was about to | | | | reporting record profits. With a cap on oil profits, it |
| deliver some bad news I looked down at my desk and | | | | would give the government an excuse to tap into |
| there was this detailed proposal all ready to go. As I | | | | some of that abundance of extra cash the oil |
| straightened my tie I let out a bellowing "Of course it's | | | | companies are "burdened" with. That extra could help |
| ready Mr. President, would you and Mr. Bernanke like a | | | | pay back the stimulus money, or it could help to fund |
| preview?" As I looked to my left I saw Ben Bernanke | | | | the temp business tax relief. I am sure we could find a |
| sitting on a green sofa smoking a corn cob pipe. My | | | | good use for it. |
| eyes jumped back to the first page of my proposal | | | | * 41% of all people who are set to receive a check in |
| and I began to read: | | | | the mail from the stimulus plan have reported that they |
| As we face these tough times as a nation and as a | | | | will use the rebate needed to stimulate our |
| world, we must remember that we are in this together. | | | | marketplace to pay on credit card debt. That is an |
| If we are to recover and rebuild the world's sagging | | | | estimated 90 billion that will not be pumped back |
| economies we must act as a nation united, and as a | | | | through our economy. That 90 Billion is set to go |
| world united. We must remember that through the | | | | where most of our extra money goes anyway. What |
| darkest times the brightest light will shine, things will get | | | | we need to do is negotiate with the big credit card |
| better, we will recover from this and move on wiser | | | | companies to eliminate some of this debt that is eating |
| and with a better appreciation for what we have, and | | | | up our extra money, particularly those who are paying |
| with a better understanding of how we are all | | | | pure interest. Those $100 payments a month could go |
| connected. The light does not shine for those who | | | | to that Starbucks budget, or towards those new |
| don't work to make it shine, and it will not shine for | | | | shoes you have been eyeing. |
| those who don't learn from there mistakes. So as we | | | | * As police departments continue to ticket people and |
| work hard together, to pick our economy off the | | | | the cities continue to charge large fines and fees for |
| ground and to make that long trek back uphill we must | | | | simple traffic violations such as seatbelt, registration, |
| remember. We must remember how we got here. | | | | and fix its we will have no extra cash. Period. I |
| Through sacrifice, determination and change we will be | | | | calculate ( more of a rough guesstimate ) that each |
| back to the top of the mountain again. | | | | ticket in my county is an average of $200 dollars. |
| Here is a list of purposed directions we can take to | | | | Many who qualify for a rebate will only receive $300 in |
| add stability and consistency to our markets and our | | | | the mail in July. Now if you were to take my |
| workforce. | | | | guesstimate and multiply that by the number of traffic |
| * We must extend unemployment to those currently | | | | stops in your area this month you will understand |
| on unemployment aid. Sending the unemployed back | | | | exactly how we could fall into such a tough recession. |
| into a shaky workforce will only add to the problem. | | | | Once again these are only starting points. As long as |
| We would be sending any homeowner on aid right into | | | | we start headed in the right direction, we can not fail. |
| the foreclosure pile. | | | | Now Mr. President, about my current salary... I would* |
| * Temporary tax relief to business owners feeling the | | | | And then I woke up! I turned on my TV, and at that |
| affects of the lack of spending, which is just about all | | | | moment I realized that we are living out a real |
| small business and specific areas of big business. This | | | | nightmare! |