My plan to save the economy

I've been pondering all this money I'm paying for bailouts and realizing that I'm not benefiting from this at all. I'm not going out to work on a construction project and I'm not buying a car and I'm sure not buying another house this year. I realize that if things bounce back I benefit in the long term, but who knows how long that will be? So here's my plan for jump starting the economy.

Everybody who voted (I think that's fair. If you didn't care enough to vote, why should I pay you money?) gets $500.00 to spend. There are a few strings attached.

Firstly, you don't really get the money. You get it deducted directly off your tax bill when you file this year. (Already filed? Then you'll have to file an amended return. Nobody should be that organized anyway.) If you didn't make enough to pay income tax for 2008, then you'll have to file to get the $500.00 back in the form of a refund.

Secondly, you have to spend it within the next 30 days AND you have to spend it on something that will directly benefit an American. This means that you can't go to Wal-Mart and buy some cheap Chinese toy for your kid or get the latest iPod made in Taiwan. Sorry. You have to buy American-grown food, American clothing or fabric, furniture, whatever or you have to pay an American for a service like getting your hair cut or having your yard mowed or your car repaired. Etsy.com has thousands of things you can buy that were made right here in Murica. Check out www.madeinusaforever.com for more ideas. Save your receipts so you can prove that the money was spent on American goods or services.

What's wrong with this plan?

Don't have the $500.00 to spend? This does present a problem for those living close to the bone. This plan is mainly to get people like me who have that much tucked away to stop putting it in the bank for fear that things will get worse. But you can probably find a way to come up with the money or get easy credit terms if you know you're getting it back in just a few months after you file. Even if you had to pay some interest, you're still getting $500.00 worth of free stuff.

Paperwork? I laugh at paperwork. This would just be part of your tax return and the onus of proof is on you. You'd have to provide legitimate receipts. If you cheat, it's tax fraud. And I'm sure stores and people who do services would figure out pretty quick how to verify that you purchased an American-made item or used American labor. And the tax code would have to be tweaked. There are tons of out-of-work Wall Street types who could work on that.

The cost? I'm lousy at big numbers but if approximately 122 million people voted in the last election, then the cost is, I think, only 61 billion dollars. Dirt cheap compared to the latest bailout numbers. And the most beautiful thing about this is that the $500.00 you pay the guy to prune your trees might be spent on something else rather than get put in a savings account. And there are no restrictions on how that money gets spent. Everyone in the world benefits, not just Americans.

Imagine the kick to the economy if 61,000,000,000 dollars got pumped into it next month! This makes at least as much sense to me as the plans they're coming up with in Washington.