He\'s like the Uncle who gives Christmas gifts in July

In an attempt to stave off an impending economic recession, the federal government decided to return tax revenue to the people. Instead of letting Americans keep their money by not paying it in the first place, the brilliant policymakers thought it a better idea to take money, keep it, and then funnel it back at a supposedly predetermined time. One small snag: some checks were sent to incorrect accounts. When money isn’t being arbitrarily redistributed, it is simply not showing up. Even though congress passed the relief act in January, tax relief still has not arrived for millions of Americans.

While I will be the last to oppose tax cuts, let’s take a step-by-step approach to this embarrassment of a tax relief plan:

Congress believes that it is the answer to problems that it caused

In truth the government has presided over failed oversight of unnecessarily risky hedge funds, opposition to China’s rise as an economic power with tariffs and trade barriers, uncontrollable deficit spending, fiscally reprehensible foreign policy, and obstinacy in world trade talks. Government was, and is, the problem, not the solution.

Congress thinks the problem can be fixed with a short-term solution

What exactly is it about an inherently flawed economic system that is short-term? For a country that has racked up the highest deficits in recorded human history (which is still smaller than the Great Primate Economic Crash of 1400 BCE…damn banana shortage), why is giving money to the people without an equivalent cut in government programs a good idea? Is the American public actually expected to believe that debts don’t need to be paid back? Are we to truly believe that China, Japan, and the myriad other countries that buy our debt will never actually ask for a return on their investment? How many rhetorical questions are necessary to fully explain how mindless congress has been on this issue? Four? (I actually have asked six, but I won’t count the last two)

This short-term solution will soon enter into its sixth month with people still not receiving their checks

At what point is this tax relief even related to the economic slowdown? If spending is down and needs to be boosted, why are we waiting five months?

From start to finish, the federal government has completely dropped the ball. The tragic question is whether or not we should be surprised.