Published: May 07, 2008 02:21 pm            

Pinching rebate pennies makes them stretch

EDMOND — The mailman is getting lots of friendly waves these days as we haunt our mailboxes, looking for our rebate checks from the Great Money-Sucking Beast in Washington. We think kindly toward it (or GM-SB) for returning a little bit of our lifeblood to keep us from fainting on the job. I’m a little suspicious of the simplicity of the plan.

If we put government waste and excess aside, we ought to be wise to the psychology being used on us by GM-SB. He wants us to spend our little allowance like a child given a dollar in a candy store, since the candy store is hurting for business. The pinch is that next Saturday when we need our allowance, the GM-SB will tell us, “you spent your allowance, so if you have no money, it’s not my fault!”

This rebate is not free money. We earned it by going to work each weekday, whether we’re selling cars or bookkeeping or treating patients. It represents our sweat and sacrifice. It is part of our sustenance that was confiscated for spending on our elected officials’ priorities. If we happen to share those priorities, it is less painful, but unfortunately, we don’t get to choose which priorities we pay for and which ones we don’t.

This rebate gives us an opportunity to spend our money on our own priorities. We don’t have to hurry right over to the Good and Plenty candy and plop down our allowance.

Another scary part of this post-feeding season is that we cheerfully cash the checks, but I have not heard one peep about what part of the GM-SB, doesn’t get his full feeding this year. Are they actually making cuts in spending? Are they eliminating waste in some dark pocket of the Money-Sucker? If they were, we’d have heard about it as a great accomplishment that justifies re-election for some valiant public servant.

If the GM-SB is not making cuts in its expenses, then we must assume that since that same animal has the ability to produce its own feed, there is the possibility that this “rebate” represents a simple change in the money supply. I don’t actually see one in one hundred dollars I spend, since I use a debit card for purchases and an automatic deposit. I wouldn’t be wiser if the numbers were simply changed and the GM-SB simply added a zero to some fund some where without actually bothering to print new dollars.

If we think that adding a zero here and there is a painless way to improve our economy, think about making lemonade from a can of frozen concentrate. If you add the four cans of water called for, it’s just the right strength. If you add an extra half can, it’s still pretty good and you can hardly tell the difference. But if you add two extra cans of water, you certainly do have more lemonade, but it’s very weak. Adding money to the money supply is like watering down lemonade. Pretty soon it loses all it’s strength and is useless.

The dollar is already weak. No other country wants dollars right now. Weak dollars mean prices inflate. It makes sense to spend now before it’s weakened even more tomorrow, so people are not motivated to save. But interest rates also increase and the costs of inflation soon outpace wages. The over-inflated balloon bursts and the economy recedes or contracts.

So, if you’re one of the poor blokes who plans to live high for a week on the rebate check, reconsider. If you carry a credit card balance, you already have this spent money before you received it. Use the check to pay for some of the food you already ate or clothes you already wear. If you are one paycheck away from homelessness, you’ll be surprised how much peace a little nest egg — even a very little nest egg — can give. If you have no cushion in your food supply, store some non-perishable goods with the money.

Remember that this money represents your labor. Use it wisely and you’ll ease some stress in your life.



BETH STEPHENSON is an Edmond resident.

        

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