give the money to everyone who has already filed taxes for 2008. No taxes filed means no money. If you filed by the October 15th deadline, you qualify, if you did not, oh well. Give double of what was given last year.

DD: Thanks for your input, D. Anyone else out there know what the government should do if there's another stimulus package?

With a deep recession in prospect, we need our government to stimulate the economy without worrying about the budget deficit. (The time for that was years ago, when Washington plunged into debt in order to fund a reckless war.) The stimulus should not take the form of givebacks to individuals, though: instead, we should invest in our perilously degraded infrastructure. This will stimulate job growth and create a lasting benefit for the nation. It will expand the economy, enabling us to pay down the debt incurred in the initial investment.

DD: Thanks for your take, Paul.

Hi Eileen,
For further economic stimulus plans, it would be great if we took a cue from FDR. In addition to those inspiring Fireside Chats, his New Deal creation of the Works Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps should be models for government-backed stimulation of the economy. Invest in the infrastructure and have the government create a program to hire folks who've lost jobs in the construction industry. If a family needs home loan relief because they're working four part-time jobs and can't make mortgage payments, have the government pay them to be retrained in a field where we'll have jobs for years to come: health care, green energy, education, geriatric care, environmental cleanup, communications technology, even restaffing our national parks system. During the downturn of the early 70s, I was a high school student hired by the Youth Conservation Corps, a federal program, to fix shelters and build trails at Catoctin National Park in Thurmont, Md. Other YCC programs staffed recreation centers for low-income elementary students during the summer. Let's be creative with government money and put people to work instead of giving "mortgage relief" handouts that will line the pockets of the lenders and bankers who got us into this mess.

DD: Thanks for your good ideas, Molly.

Forget the stimulus checks. The county's already too far in debt. $600 isn't going to relieve the anxiety of people looking at their 401(k)s going down the drain.

vl

DD: So it sounds like no one's for another rebate. But if you had to pick something, what would you do with the next stimulus package, vl? Or anyone else out there?

My husband had a great idea for the stimulus package. The population of the U.S. is 305 million people. How about giving every citizen 1 million dollars each, to take care of their own bills and spend as they please. That would sure get the economy going, and it would only cost 305 million dollars, not billions!
Is that worth passing on to the elected officials?
Carol

Carol, Sounds good, but $305 million would mean that each of us would get $1. I think a million apiece would be $305 trillion. Alas. eileen

Not that many people realize that the last round of rebate checks were targeted to a select group. News releases made you believe that everyone got at least $300. I never did see any article that informed the public that individuals paying taxes and earning $87,000 or more would be rebated nothing, ($174,000 for Joint returns). Those individuals already payed at a higher tax rate and yet they were excluded from the rebate program.
Any further programs to stimulate the economy would be better aimed at providing work opportunities that would be targeted toward improving education, environment and social structure.