I received a forwarded e-mail from a friend of mine this morning. This News Blast was originally sent from Mayer & Company LLP in New York. It sounds great and I vote for it. Read it and see what you think.
Here is what it said:
"A real bail out strategy:
"I think this makes great deal of sense!!! Give it a try with your Congressmen and Senators, etc.
"I'm against the $85,000,000,000 bailout of AIG. Instead, I am in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a We Deserve It Dividend.
"To make the math simple, let's assume there are 200,000,000 bona fide US Citizens of 18 and older. Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman and child. Therefore, 200,000,000 is a good estimate of adults age 18 and up.
"So, divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billion which equals $425,000. My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18 and over as a We Deserve It Dividend.
"Of course this would NOT be tax free. So, let's assume the tax rate of 30% (but it could be more). Each individual 18 + has to pay $127,500 in taxes. That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam. Not that means every adult 18+ will have $297,500 in their pocket. A married couple will have $595,000.
"What would you do with $297,500 to $595,000 in your family?
Pay off the morgage - housing crisis solved.
Pay off the credit cards - No more credit crunch.
Repay college loans - That would be a great boost to college grads. Put away money for college. It'll be there.
Save in a bank - create money to loan to entrepreneurs.
Buy a new car - create new jobs
Invest in the market - capital drives growth
Pay for your parent's medical insurance - health care improves
Enable deadbeat parents to come clean - or else
"Remember, this is for every US Citizen 18 years of age and over, including the folks that lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company that is cutting back. And, of course, for those serving in the Armed Forces.
"If we're going to redristribute wealth, let's really do it .....instead of trickling out a puny $1000 economic Voter Incentive that is being proposed by one of our Presidential candidates.
"If we're going to do and $85 billion bailout, let's bailout every adult US Citizen 18+!
"As for AIG, liquidate it. Sell off it's parts. Let American General go back to being American General. Sell of the real estate. Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.
"Here's my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn't. Sure it's a crazy idea that can "never work". But can you imagine the Coast to Coast Block Party?
"How do you spell Economic Boom?
"I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 billion We Deserve It Dividend more than the geniuses at AIG or in Washington DC.
"And remember, this plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because $25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam."
This plan sounds like it would solve many of the current economic problems. What do you think??
Best idea I heard yet.
hhhmmm, I like that idea, but it makes too much sense. Washington won't be able to figure it out because it is too simple. What about the $700 Billion bailout? It would work with this also.
Sean Allen
I love the idea... but here's the problem with your plan.
$85,000,000,000 divided by 200,000,000 does not equal $425,000... it only equals $425.00.
Not nearly enough to be worthwhile. Sorry.
Brigita, Unfortunately we all get emails like this and many more unsavory ones every day. I recommend that you check out how real these emails are before you forward them to friends and family or repost them by going to www.snopes.com This one was debunked here: http://www.snopes.com/politics/taxes/dividend.asp
Darn it, and it sounded so good!
Math is scary sometimes :-)
When I hear them saying billion this billion that it amazes me..Now I am starting to hear the number Trillion .... YIKES!!!
your friend in Charlottesville!
Mike:
I agree!
Brigita
Sean:
You're right! I don't think Washington would go for something this simple. They always seem to go about doing things the hard way.
Brigita
Alan:
I guess I should have double checked the math first. It sounded great, though.
Brigita
Jeffrey:
Thanks for the info.
Brigita
Jeannie:
And I thought we were onto something good. Drat!
Brigita
Charles:
The larger the numbers, the more complicated it gets. What comes after a trillion??
Brigita
The bailout is supposed to be $700,000,000,000. Having said that, that should add on to the money that we would all receive. I still like the idea. What does come after 999 trillion.
Brigita... it did indeed sound great... I was ready to sign up... if the math had been right it would have been a hell of a plan!! You're not the first to fall for it, and you won't be the last.
My mother was incredibly disappointed. She wanted to start a grass-roots campaign to adopt the new plan!
- heavy sigh -
Linda:
I like the idea, also, and I'm sure many other taxpayers do too.
That's a good question. I have no clue what comes after 999 trillion.
Brigita
Alan:
I, too, was excited when I read this e-mail. So excited, I didn't even double check the math. If anybody comes up with a great plan like this, and the math is correct (LOL), you can count me in to adopt the plan.
Brigita
It's difficult, Brigita, to check the math, when there are just so many zeroes involved... many calculators don't allow you to enter such a large number!! It's so huge, it's like playing with Monopoly money.
Don't worry... all is forgiven... you can come home now. :-)
Thank you, Alan! I feel much better now. I again feel comfortable continuing with my posts, knowing all is forgiven. LOL
Brigita
Brigita,
I love it!
If only the math worked out we'd all be sitting in a much happier place right now.
Oh well, we can still dream.......Can't we?
Craig:
I'm sure it enlightened many reading this. At least for a short while. Hey, it's better than not at all.
Brigita
even if it were the 700 billion it would only wourk out to $4,250 DOLLARS.
1 ZILLION OR 1000 TRILLION
Floyd:
I've always been good at math, but, now we are getting into too many zeroes. Once we hit a lot of zeroes,it's gets harder to do the math. No matter. All I can say is that what the government is doing is not working.
Brigita