06-19-2008, 04:04 PM
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#1 (permalink)
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Are we not men?
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 2,902
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Borrowing from the young to pay for the dead
azcentral.com
Quote:
Like millions of other Americans, Malinda W. Affeldt of Winslow received her economic stimulus check from the U.S. Treasury late last week.
Unlike most of her fellow citizens, however, Malinda will not deposit, cash or spend her $300 “gift” from the government.
She passed away last March 26.
Hey, mistakes happen.
There are bound to be a few computer glitches or accounting mix-ups when you're talking about millions and millions of recipients. What makes Malinda's situation unusual is that sending her a check was no mistake. The government knows that she is dead. Malinda's passing is noted on the check by way of the letters “DECD” (for deceased) after her name. That is why there is a second name on the check, that of her son, Allan Affeldt. The check also is made out to him as the executor of her estate.
“I'd guess that there are many, many people in the same position as I am in,” he told me. “We've gone through probate during the past year and now we are receiving checks in the name of people who have died. I can't imagine anything making less sense.”
A few years back, Affeldt and his wife, the artist Tina Mion purchased the La Posada hotel in Winslow. The resort was one of the original Harvey Houses run by the Fred Harvey Co. and is a National Historic Trust landmark site.
Since buying the place, the couple invested a lot of money in restoring the hotel. Affeldt is such a believer in reinvigorating the town that he ran for and won the office of mayor. He believes in economic stimulus. But not this kind.
“What we are doing with this program is borrowing money from our kids in order to pay to our dead parents,” he said. “All in an attempt to prop up our fiscally challenged generation and the government. It's a very bad idea.”
The Commerce Department has reported that money from the stimulus checks has helped to boost sales at department stores and other general merchandise stores, which they point to as a boon for the economy.
“People act as if this was money that the government just had lying around,” Affeldt said. “It isn't. It's borrowed. Taxpayers will be responsible for repaying it -- with interest.”
Not everyone is enjoying the windfall. Earlier this month, it was reported that thousands of Arizona residents had their stimulus payments confiscated to cover debts such as federal and state tax liabilities, unpaid child support, delinquent student loans and more.
On the other hand, there is a guy in Brooklyn, N.Y., who started a Web site, Home | How I Spent My Stimulus, that invites visitors to upload photos and text describing how they spent their government cash.
Responses range from buying gas and paying off credit card debt to getting tattoos, posting bail and purchasing “a Star Wars Stormtrooper armor costume.”
“People are treating this like they won a lottery prize when in fact they took out a loan,” Affeldt said. “Or, the government took out a loan for them, which eventually their children will have to pay back.”
He's correct, of course. Most of us know it. We know that the stimulus checks aren't “free” and the debt will be passed on to our kids. It's just that times are tough and cash is cash.
Few of us are as forward-thinking or as responsible as Affeldt, however. From what he told me, Affeldt is about to do the second best thing that he and others like him could do with a check received in the name of a late parent: Send it back to the U.S. Treasury.
The best thing?
Send it to me.
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