Dear Amy.
The “Stimulus Payment” is a thinly veiled plot to divert our tax dollars directly into the private sector. This is money we have already paid into the system in the form of taxes which many of us would prefer to be used for universal health coverage, education, programs for the poor and other public sector programs to improve the lives of the many poor and underprivileged citizens of our nation. Instead we have seen the erosion of social programs and education under the Bush administration and the redirection of our tax money and escalation of deficit spending to either directly or indirectly enrich the wallets of the very rich.
The wealthiest 300,000 people in the United States now have more money than the rest of us combined. This concentration of wealth is easy to understand if you think of the private sector economy as a sort of pyramid, with the very top bricks at the point being these 300,000 wealthiest people. Beneath them are less wealthier people, corporations, another layer, investors, and as the pyramid broadens out at the bottom, we find working professionals and finally, at the lowest and broadest layer, the working poor and even immigrant labor.
In this model, wealth flows from the bottom up to the top of the pyramid. In a healthy economy, the wealth at the top would be dispersed more evenly throughout the pyramid, in the form of taxes and of course investments, philanthropic and otherwise. By taxing the very rich, and recycling that wealth in the form of social programs, education and health care, we prevent the concentration of wealth at the top where more money is flowing into the top of the pyramid than is flowing out of it.
This is what has happened. The top became greedy, and held onto the wealth by only cycling the money at the higher ends of the pyramid, effectively leaving ordinary workers out of the loop. So the poor got poorer, and goods kept getting more expensive because the corporations needed to make more money, because the flow of money to the top slowed down, because the workers weren’t getting paid enough to have any disposable income to feed the flow of money to the top of the pyramid.
So you have a vicious cycle they are calling recession.
The corporations don’t want to pay more in wages or pay big taxes into social programs because this reduces share price and “robs” the richest people at the top of profits.
The problem is, that there are many more workers at the bottom of the pyramid than there are very rich people at the top. So when they stop having disposable income, the upward flow of funds in the pyramid slows.
So you can now imagine these very rich powerful people sitting around trying to figure out “What are we going to do to kick start the flow of money to the top again?”
“I know” one think tank crony said. We’ll give the consumer some “free money” It will actually just be a tax kickback, but we’ll call a “stimulus payment” and encourage the consumer to spend it on something they don’t really need, and hopefully they’ll spend a little extra money from their savings, or even better, max out that credit card they’ve been sitting on.
Oh did I forget to mention. Consumer debt spending is a great way to send money up the pyramid without the top having to send any back down. To them, it really is like free money.
So, I’m on a mission, a mission to put a dent in their plans. We can’t stop the stimulus payments, but what if we all donated our payments a reputable charity. A charity that helps educate the underprivileged or feeds the poor, or provides medical assistance to citizens that can’t afford it. What if we spent the money on organizations that support the kind of social programs we wish our government were funding?
I think if the government and the people saw that there was all of a sudden millions of $300.00 and $600.00 donations to organizations like the united Negro College Fund, the Children’s Defense Fund, The American Kidney Fund and so on, then someone just might get the message.
Amy, I have been a fan of yours for many years. I admire your reporting style and your mission to report what others seek to hide. I’m asking you now for your help. Your help to get the word out about my proposal before everyone goes out and spends their stimulus payment the way the Neocons want us to. If I could have just 15 minutes with you on your show, to explain my simple pyramid analogy and expose what the rich and powerful are trying to do, then maybe we can get the word out to make a difference with this stimulus payment, instead of playing into the schemes of the powerful rich.
OK Who am I?
Without revealing my identity, I will tell you a little about myself.
I was born in 1957 and raised in NYC. There a child of liberal parents, I very early on became involved in the peace movement against the war in Vietnam. I was a member of the Student Peace Coalition by age 13 and trained in non-violent protest strategies. I volunteered as a “Peace Marshall” at many anti-war rallies and heard people like John Lennon speak out against the war in Washington Square Park. By the time I graduated high school and went off to arts college in California, the war seemed long over, and like many of my peers, I slipped into the mainstream of the establishment, until now. Through my alter ego, Big Blog Man, www.bigblogman.com I exercise my 1st amendment rights to complain, cajole, expose any injustice inflicted upon the peoples of this once proud nation. My banner cry comes from the now cult classic 1976 motion picture Network. “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.”
Please forgive me if I seem to hide behind this alter ego of mine. That is not my intent, Rather it is to divert any criticism or even praise of a person / personage that might detract from the message. I understand that you are reporter, and I will answer any questions you care to ask about my personage except to divulge any identifying information.
Please call, let’s talk, let’s do an interview, let’s get the word out, and let’s make a difference.
Big Blog Man.
Thanks for your time.
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