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If Obama wants to sent checks in the mail, please listen to the man who stated that they have to be in the form of a credit card so people can't put in their saving accounts, or pay of things they should have paid off any way, since that won't stimulate the economy ....buying stuff will help....so if this ridiculous outragous stimulus package will be accepted than at least do it the way the smart man has stated...but I guess that is too much to ask for....
sorry I see there is a mistake in the thread title....I can't change it...it should have been "One man stated: don't sent stimulus checks in the mail, send them a credit card so they have to spent it!"
I am not sure how this works, but if you buy something on a "gift card" or in this case a "stimulus card" and you take it back for a refund I don't think they will "reload" the refund on the card, will they? If the can't or don't or won't then I will buy things and then return them to get the cash so I can PAY OFF MY DEBTS....hello.... Otherwise, I will find a way to get the cash because I am not going to BUY things I do not want or need when I have debts that I am paying interest on. And anyone who does is a fool.
Even if that would work...how much do you think the stimulus will help out to create jobs....
Well not much really. I don't really agree with the whole stimulus/bailout thing any way. I'm probably not the only person saving money or paying off debt who would simply prefer cash. I am saving for a house though, so I'm sure that will help someone. I'd rather not get a federal credit card to go buy a 52" plasma I don't need.
If Obama wants to sent checks in the mail, please listen to the man who stated that they have to be in the form of a credit card so people can't put in their saving accounts, or pay of things they should have paid off any way, since that won't stimulate the economy ....buying stuff will help....so if this ridiculous outragous stimulus package will be accepted than at least do it the way the smart man has stated...but I guess that is too much to ask for....
sorry I see there is a mistake in the thread title....I can't change it...it should have been "One man stated: don't sent stimulus checks in the mail, send them a credit card so they have to spent it!"
A link would have been so helpful because I'm pretty sure there was more to this "smart man's" statement then the one sentence you posted. I'm sure if they were to send credit cards a whole other crop of issues would have to be discussed:
In the case of a family refund would the card be issued in the wife or the husband's name? If it's a check it can probably be deposited into a joint account so it might not matter; but if it's a card whose name would appear? Would it be both names?
Would the cards be Visa, Amex, MC? Then there would have to be a system set up for you to activate the cards; otherwise if i got bentlebees card in the mail I could just run out and buy whatever.
Or would they be debit cards? If they are debit cards then there has to be a system set up for you to create a pin number. If they're going to be like debit cards then people can get cash back or go to the ATM defeating the whole purpose of the credit cards in the first place.
Is there going to be a charge whenever you use? Will they be accepted at all stores?
If you lose your card, can it be replaced? If it gets stolen, is your money protected?
Couldn't I still use the credit card to pay bills since I pay most of my bills via credit anyway? What's to stop me from using the card to pay my electric bill or cable bill or even a past due medical bill?
I'm sure the "smart man" probably addressed all those questions but since you didn't post a link, his name, or where you heard this I wasn't able to read any of his answers.
This may be what to OP is referring to - a story by a small businessman (he operates a retail food store in Seattle) who argues that tax cuts won't help him, but increased consumer spending would, and he suggests how that might happen:
I appreciate lower taxes, as do my small-business brethren. And we like being courted by politicians, who woo us because we are part of the American psyche as well as for more practical reasons. Small businesses provided a majority of job growth after each of the past two recessions, creating a million jobs between March 2000 and March 2001, even as firms with more than 500 employees lost 150,000 positions in the same period.
So why don't they offer us what we crave, or, more specifically, why aren't tax cuts the solution?
The proposed tax cuts reward those who need it least. One of the more expensive provisions is an expansion to five years of the period over which losses can be used to reduce tax payments of profitable years. In other words, if I lost money this year, the package would allow me to reduce my taxes when I do well several years later. But that has value only when I make a profit again, not while I'm struggling to make rent.
Quote:
When I'm struggling, a small reduction in costs isn't going to persuade me to create a new position. At a huge company, that might add up to another job, but for me the choice of whether to create a job rests on only one thing: customer demand.
Quote:
A better choice would be something Americans are likely to spend, and without huge logistical headaches: a gift card. By sending every taxpayer a $2,000 debit card, the government stimulates spending directly. The card doesn't get deposited with a bank, a step that greatly reduced the use of last year's rebate checks for new spending, and with a defined expiration time, perhaps a year, the program could help precisely while other programs get underway.
You could always buy gas with the Stimulus CC and then take the cash you would have used to pay for gas and use it to pay a bill or leave it in the bank. The end result is the same.
A link would have been so helpful because I'm pretty sure there was more to this "smart man's" statement then the one sentence you posted. I'm sure if they were to send credit cards a whole other crop of issues would have to be discussed:
In the case of a family refund would the card be issued in the wife or the husband's name? If it's a check it can probably be deposited into a joint account so it might not matter; but if it's a card whose name would appear? Would it be both names?
Would the cards be Visa, Amex, MC? Then there would have to be a system set up for you to activate the cards; otherwise if i got bentlebees card in the mail I could just run out and buy whatever.
Or would they be debit cards? If they are debit cards then there has to be a system set up for you to create a pin number. If they're going to be like debit cards then people can get cash back or go to the ATM defeating the whole purpose of the credit cards in the first place.
Is there going to be a charge whenever you use? Will they be accepted at all stores?
If you lose your card, can it be replaced? If it gets stolen, is your money protected?
Couldn't I still use the credit card to pay bills since I pay most of my bills via credit anyway? What's to stop me from using the card to pay my electric bill or cable bill or even a past due medical bill?
I'm sure the "smart man" probably addressed all those questions but since you didn't post a link, his name, or where you heard this I wasn't able to read any of his answers.
I have no link otherwise I would have posted it..I saw this being stated in an interview and I was switching channels...
I agree more has to be worked out but the basic idea sounds good. By the way when i get my gift cards from BoA for the points I get from my cc, they cc from Visa is always with my name on it and has to be activated and can be used for gas, groceries or whatever I want to use it for...so similar to a check but in this case you can't use it to put it in a saving account you have to spent it but you can use it anyway you want to but not get cash back...
It is a little better solution but still I'm totally against a bailout or stimulus wasting package which won't create jobs as it is written...Obama can try to sell all the crap he wants but I'm not buying it...small businesses and bigger businesses always have created jobs and that won't be the case with Obama's plan!
You could always buy gas with the Stimulus CC and then take the cash you would have used to pay for gas and use it to pay a bill or leave it in the bank. The end result is the same.
That's what I'd do...
Hey that makes sense... woah wait a minute.
I don't want to hear any more logic and reasonable thinking out of you! I'm going to get my money in the most contrived and complicated way possible and that is that thankyouverymuch!
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