five ways to spend that stimulus check!

The way I see it, the government has driven up our national debt to nearly $10 trillion, financed a war on borrowed money, failed to provide basic services and protections to Americans, and yet somehow sees fit to send us (many of us who do not need it) a check for $600. Most Americans will either spend the money on personal items (what the government is hoping for) or put it toward debt relief (not a bad idea).

But here's another idea - use the money to fix what the government has broken. Here are a few examples:

1) Where FEMA failed, you can make a difference - Donate to Habitat for Humanity New Orleans (http://www.habitat-nola.org/) or better yet, sign up for the Jimmy Carter Work Project in May and build homes in the 9th Ward!

2) To counteract a greatly weakened Environmental Protection Agency - give money to The Sierra Club (http://www.sierraclub.org/).

3) Since we can't trust the USDA to protect our food supplies, even the hamburger meat sold to our public schools(!) - Spend a little extra money and buy grassfed, free range beef (at Whole Foods or http://www.lgbeef.com/) or donate money to your local school for their lunch program.

4) Since we can't trust the FAA to protect our skies - Take a vacation on Amtrak or a non-American airline.

5) If our $10 trillion national debt is keeping you up nights worrying about your children's or grandchildren's future, you can help pay it down. Send a check to the US Treasury. Make it payable to the Bureau of the Public Debt, and in the memo section, notate that it is a Gift to reduce the Debt Held by the Public. Mail your check to:
Attn Dept G
Bureau Of the Public Debt
P. O. Box 2188
Parkersburg, WV 26106-2188

If you decide to spend your stimulus check in one of these ways, write your representatives and tell them what you did and why. You can find out who they are at http://www.house.gov/ and http://www.senate.gov/. And, feel free to share other ideas by posting a comment.

Until the government starts making the right decisions, we'll have to do it for them!