The headlines report that the Department of Government Efficiency could give out $5,000 stimulus checks. As Mr. Elon Musk and Mr. Donald Trump dangle such treats before the American taxpayers like candy in front of children, they purchase our support with our own money. To those taxpayers in the $30,000 or $40,000 or $50,000 bracket, this may sound enticing. To the $200,000-and-up bracket, not so much. Mr. Musk touts these stimulus checks as being the result of savings. To most of us, just as George H.W. Bush became a believer in “trickle-down economics,” this is voodoo economics. If I were to save $200 on a $1,000 cellphone, does that add another $200 to my checking account? Does that pay off my credit card debt? It could help if I pay $200 toward that credit card debt. But that is not what our president and his co-president, Mr. Musk, propose.
What Mr. Musk is suggesting would add another $765 billion to the national debt by handing out bribes to all individual American taxpayers. But, instead of paying down my credit card debt with the $200 savings on the cellphone purchase, I use the credit card to donate $200 to my favorite charity, putting me deeper in debt.
And that, my fellow Americans, is voodoo economics.
Norma Calabro
Cecil County, Maryland
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
