 |
|
 |
|
Charles Jaco has written opinion and commentary pieces for dozens of magazines and newspapers. Each week, read and comment on a fresh on-line version. The discussion page enables you to share your view points world wide. If you would like to make a comment go to the " Join the discussion" link below. If you would like to view past editorials visit the Editorial Archive. Editorial 06/08/01 note: for links to information resources, go to NewsBoom GIVE IT AWAY It's 2011. The International Space Station has been renamed the Marriott Orbiter because the U.S. doesn't have enough cash to keep it running. The first of the Baby Boomers are retiring, cleaning out Social Security and Medicare with the gusto of a hungry Airedale gobbling up kibble. The speed limit on the interstates has been lowered to 45 miles an hour because of potholes the size of Rhode Island. The deck of America's one remaining aircraft carrier is leased out for extreme skateboard tournaments. Thank you George W. But that, along with an evaporated surplus, is years after he leaves office. Right now, in the biggest political payoff since Nero tossed loaves of rye and whole wheat to crowds in the Coliseum, the tax cut bill is law and Uncle Sam's preparing to mail out about 100 million tax rebate checks. You say you're on the bottom of the economic ladder and don't pay income tax, but you still get nailed for witholding tax from your paycheck? Fuggedaboutit. You don't get a penny. But the rest of us will get checks starting in July. If you're single, the check's $300. If you're a married couple, it's $600. It'll be like walking down the street and finding a few hundred dollar bills. It's found money. So what do you do with it? Easy. Give it away. This is the acid test for the it's-our-money-but-we're-not-really-greedy-swine crowd. Really? Prove it. This is the same bunch who bleat about how the evil, corrupt government can't do anything right, but that the private sector and individual donors can fix just about anything. Okay. It's money where your mouth is time. Anyone who spends thousands of bucks a year to belong to a country club doesn't need an extra six hundred. Six c-notes equal about one payment on that small destroyer disguised as an SUV in the driveway. It's twelve tanks of gas, thirty cartons of cigarettes, part of one mortgage payment, or a new sofa. That same money could feed a family in a refugee camp for the better part of a year. It could help an elderly person pay her electric bill so she can afford to run her a.c. in the summer. It could provide hundreds of vaccinations for Third World kids. It could help your church put on a new roof, your temple provide clothing for area children, your synagogue build a new altar. It could buy books for a cash-strapped local school or library. It could help provide poor students financial aid at a college or university. It could buy your city's police department a couple of bullet-proof vests. It could help maintain your fire department's rescue vehicles. It could help the National Right to Life Committee campaign against abortion, or the National Abortion Rights Action League campaign for abortion rights. It could help provide AZT for poor AIDS patients who can't afford the drug. It could help a minister feed the hungry, a rabbi clothe the homeless, an imam comfort the afflicted. It can help Habitat for Humanity build houses and Doctors Without Borders care for the sick in war zones. It could help A.A. clean up drunks and Narcanon clean up junkies. It can help the Rotary and Kiwanis and Elks and Lions provide scholarships. It can provide help for battered women, medical care for poor men, and toys for abandoned children. It can buy flags to put at local cemetaries on Memorial and Veteran's days. It can help Big Brothers and Big Sisters mentor children. It can help the Red Cross or Red Crescent or Salvation Army or CARE deliver aid to disaster victims. The checks start going out the week of July 23. They'll be mailed based
on the last two digits of your Social Security number. So if the last
two numbers of your SSN are 00 to 09, your check's in the mail July
23. If the numbers are 10 to 19, So you have a few weeks to think about where you want the money to go. Talk is cheap. Doing the right thing will cost you either 300 or 600 bucks. Join the Discussion |
Visit the Editorial Archive.
 |
|
[ News Views ] [ Coming Up ] [ Public Speaking ] [ News Boom ] |