Stimulus - Shimulus - STAYcation post #2

I know there are economic hard times in the country. All I have to do is look at my retirement accounts and the kids' college funds to see that significant drops in the investment markets have lowered people's "wealth." What I have not seen is a commensurate drop in spending across the local area. Everywhere we've gone this week places are loaded down with people. No one seems to be pinching pennies or cutting back. Our STAYcation trips to shop and eat out have highlighted the lack of sacrifice going on around here.


I had to wait in a 15 min line to shell out $100 for a kid's doll. I had to wait so long because the 4 checkers could not swipe credit cards fast enough to keep up so the line snaked through the store. Never mind that the same scenario is playing out on the second floor of the same shop with another set of 4 checkers. No one was second guessing the spendulus in that store. Restaurants...people everywhere waiting in line for a table because they are already full with people splurging and eating out.


Today we went to the local Chuck E. Cheese kids' pizza place. Kids and parents everywhere.


I know many people have lost jobs and for some life is extremely tough, but I seem to be surrounded by the opposite extreme. When I hear politicians say, "I know you are hurting, the American people are hurting!" I wonder where do they get that? It's not around here. People are shopping and buying just as they have for the last decade. Maybe that's why MA Congressman Frank is so clueless about how to "help" the banks. MA does not seem to have a problem.


I skimmed the Stimulus package verbiage thanks to a relative's blog. The wording or lack thereof is appalling to me. $XXX,XXX,XXX to this agency and $YYY,YYY,YYY to that agency. No rules on how to spend, when to spend or any other restrictions for the few hundred pages I skimmed. Just, "Here's a check." Truth in lending leads me to say that there are many millions in there for AF research and development, military construction, housing, and child care centers. Thanks. But know that I am very concerned the country has lost its way. Fiscal responsibility begins with spending less than you make. At any level that seems a simple truth to me, but we cannot manage it in Government. People are not good stewards of the taxpayer dollars. I see how easy it is to fall into that trap in my career. It's like funny money--the values and amounts are so large you can't imagine it. But at some point you have to consider would you make the same decision if it were your money?