I recently became addicted to Jon Stewart from The Daily Show. It's ALL Morna's fault! (See her links in the middle column with the blogs I endorse, Bittersweet and Wrapped in the Flag.) We are in a big mess here in these United States and we have probably had it coming for a long time. But, that doesn't take away from the anxiety we all feel as we look forward to a probable bleak future (so, why not relieve some of that with someone like Jon Stewart or Colbert?)
A friend sent me an e-mail when this whole mess became public that one way to solve the crisis would be to split this money that Congress is asking for and divvy it up among all American citizens over 18 years old. His math came out to around $400,000 per citizen. It would be even more now that they've tacked on this extra money. His theory was that we would spend it which would get the economy back on track. I laughed, forwarded it to a couple of people and then deleted it. But, I keep thinking about it. Hmmmmmmmm....... What WOULD I do if $400K landed on my lap?
Well, let's see.... I would:
- Pay off my debts: $40K
- Buy a house: $80K
- Put some in savings: $100K
- Fix my car: $2K
- Buy a new hose for my vaccuum cleaner: $20
- Get my dogs checked out at the vet: $400
- Let my husband start his dream restaurant: $50K
- Get my business going in the direction I want it to: $40K
- Give some to some friends that are struggling (not in the US): $50K
- Get a new computer: $2K
- Buy health insurance for us: $4K
And, that would be enough to keep us busy and happy for awhile. Doesn't that make much more sense?
What would YOU do with $400K?
Makes way more sense to me. And that way, we wouldn't need to bail out the banks, because everyone would pay their mortgage in full! LOL! For some reason, I doubt the corporate big-wigs want that.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you didn't spend your allotted share. You can just send the remainder to me. :)
ReplyDelete1. Since when do gambling debts get reimbursed by the u.s. gov't? i mean, people that were counting on the money they were going to make from their 'investments' were basically gambling that they would 'win', but they lost... well kind of... oh, i guess they didnt, did they?
ReplyDelete2. the 400 wealthiest people in the u.s. have more money than 50 % of the american population ...COMBINED.
yeah... 400k would be sweet... but you know what...i'm ready to head for the hills, get completely off this governments radar and they can keep their blood and sweat money.... erggggggggggggggg
OK, Shasta, I'll think about sending you something when I get the check. But, then why? You would have 400K to burn, too!
ReplyDeleteAlissa- doesn't make sense, does it? I've never understood the reasoning behind keeping people in poverty. People with money spend money so that the people with more money can make even more. But, people with no money, are a threat. Poverty pushes people into places they don't want to be...
Dreamer Rachel- There's nowhere to run! People in Iceland (which is like living in the hills) woke up today to find that their money was worth nothing...
Ooooh, $400,000! I would pay off our debts and mortgage, adopt again, put aside money for college funds, travel, invest in a business, and donate to some great causes!
ReplyDeleteLove this post Rachel! My list would look pretty much like yours, except the leftover $ would help Abit's family. We pay taxes in TWO countries, so we'd spend the $400K in both. Turkey's gov't is saying that this country will be fairly untouched by the US financial bailout...but since EU banks have been buying up all the banks here, I'm sure there will be trouble. At least the EU is SANCTIONING the banks that failed, not rewarding them...
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