Monday 5-12

I got an envelope from the Department of the Treasury in the mail on Saturday. I thought it would be my economic stimulus rebate check--but instead, it was a letter telling me how much my ecomonic stimulus rebate check would be--and that it would be in the mail soon.

This would be the second mailing warning me a rebate check would be in the mail. We got one just a few weeks after Congress intially approved this boondoggle. So how much is the Federal Government spending just to warn me that a check is coming my way? Was this factored into the total cost of the rebate program? Or are we wasting more taxpayer money to send out all of these letters? Is the plan to stimulate the economy through the US Postal Service? At least they sent these letters out before the postage rate went up. Maybe they wouldn't need the increase in the price of stamps if the Fed didn't overload the system with its own junk mail.

And who isn't aware we are getting a rebate check? Every single news outlet in the nation has made a big deal about the program for five months now. Do lawmakers think we are that ignorant that we have no idea what's going on? Were there people calling their congressman or the IRS in a panic because $600 showed up in their bank accounts last week and they didn't know why?

One thing I noticed in the letter sent this weekend was no address to return the check if I don't want it. Shouldn't there be an "opt out" procedure for those of us who would prefer the government be more responsible with its tax dollars? Maybe that's coming with the check itself...or in a follow up letter to make sure we got our check...or the survey asking us to detail how we spent our check.