Why not give every American a million dollars??

I have been thinking about this whole bail out deal a lot. I am not going over what the bail out is about, you guys already know and if you don't just search the topic in the search bar.. Anyway, instead of giving the banks that threw us into this mess the 700 billion why not cut every American a check for a million bucks?? Think about it.. Every family gets a million dollars. First thing, debt will be paid off. Most Americans are busting their butts trying to pay off debt. With a million dollars, there is more then enough to pay off ALL of your debt and the credit industry will be back to normal.. Next, pay off the mortgages. Now we have the banks back in the right financial state without giving them ALL of the money from the bailout...and people will be able to keep their homes. Better yet, people will be buying homes, so the real estate industry will not be suffering anymore. In addition to that, the construction industry will be a good place to make jobs because people will be building homes as well as buying. Now, I don't know about you guys, but after squaring my debt away, paying off/buying a new home, and getting a car that actually runs.. I'm going shopping!! The economy would BOOM if everyone in the country had enough money to shop.. I'm not talking go to the store and spend a hundred bucks.. I mean SHOP. Stocks would soar and the American economy would be back to normal. Not only that, but the stores and such would need more employees due to the rise in shoppers. That would provide jobs for everyone. More cars would need to be made because the demand would go up, so factories would be looking for more help. It would just be an all around good deal IMO.

What do you guys think? This is just what I think would benefit EVERYONE. Not just a select group.

Ya, me and a co-worker were talking the same subject.
But no offense to anyone, but they would have to be citizens, working class, to qualify.Tax paying Americans.
What a concept.

There are roughly 300,000,000 US citizens. 300,000,000 x $1,000,000 = $300,000,000,000,000. That's 300 trillion dollars.

Where would this money come from?

The value of the dollar would be equal to a Zimbabwe dollar. You'd need a wheelbarrow full to get a loaf of bread.

Although if the government decided to just give you and me a million, I'd be all for it.

If you think about it, the American people is what makes this economy move. Its what we buy, what we sell, how hard we work, that makes the economy what it is. If they give the banks the money, that just opens us up to more debt and more bad loans..GIVE IT TO THE PEOPLE!!!

Even if it wasn't a million.. I'd be happy with $50 bucks at this point lol

reply to post by KaginD



I don't know how you got that number but 700 billion does not equate to 1 million a family.

Also, if you give every family 1 million bucks, who would go to work? Wouldn't that also bring down the system?

Bush's presedency is the only one that has given back to the American people twice now.
It still hasnt fixed our economy too were it should be.

Remember that the money is supposed to be a LOAN!
It's supposed to be paid back to the US Gov.
This is not a giveaway show.

Its just an idea guys.. Calm down. I didn't crunch any number or anything before posting. Its just a hypothetical question. No facts behind it.. Just an idea.

Originally posted by jupiter869
Remember that the money is supposed to be a LOAN!
It's supposed to be paid back to the US Gov.
This is not a giveaway show.

Do you really believe that we are ever going to see that "loan" again?? IMO we will never get that money back.. We all know that everything the government has done thus far has not been done in an honest matter. What make you think this is different?

[edit on 2-10-2008 by KaginD]

I am afraid that if every American was given 1 million dollars, the greedy people would raise prices on their goods just because they know that we could then pay more.

A bag of potato chips would cost, lets say, $50. A Baby Ruth candy bar, $29.99. A hair cut at Tom's Barber Shop, $100. They'd come up with some reason to raise gas prices again. Who knows? Maybe $10 a gallon. A plummer might not step inside your house for less than $500.

The greedy would just try to take even more of our money then.

Originally posted by jupiter869
Remember that the money is supposed to be a LOAN!
It's supposed to be paid back to the US Gov.
This is not a giveaway show.

And who's going to pay back the loan + interest, once the money has been pumped into the economy and "dissapears"?

reply to post by Blueracer


Thats a really good point. Its done all the time. They would def. inflate the prices on goods and services if everyone was rich.

It would cause hyperinflation, leading to the complete and utter destruction of the American economy.

Even if they were to do that, you must remember the government would take it right back before it even got to you. The stimulus checks that went out didn't go to everyone who is a tax payer. If you had student loans, unpaid taxes, child support payment, etc., you didn't get that check this summer. That's one of the big reasons it failed to STIMULATE the economy. Not a lot of people actually got the check. I didn't, I actually forgot about a 1000 dollars I still owed on a student loan over 13 years old. The took my check to pay towards that. So even if they did say, hey we will give every household a check for 10,000 dollars to get out of debt and/or shop to stimulate the economy, they would probably take it back before they gave it. Nope wouldn't work.

They tried to give every American a million dollars, that is what got us into this mess. I declined the loan.

reply to post by Cowgirlstraitup7


Wishful thinking lol. It helps in times like these.. I just don't think this is going to work the way they say it will..Not even close. It would just be nice if the American people could benefit AT SOME POINT. Yeah, I heard from a lot of friends and family that they didn't get their checks due to debt.. Its really sad and I would just like to see something done for us for once. Like I said, wishful thinking on my part.. But it would be nice..

Thanks to everyone that weighed in. Its a bad idea, but no idea should be undiscussed. Thats why I am always open to them. Whats the worse that can happen.. Someone says its a bad idea? Thats okay by me.

That makes sense to me since money is not real any way.

People talk about inflation in Zimbabwe being a million percent. What does that really mean for anything real.

What's real is still there from when there was no inflation.

People, land, and labor is the only real wealth.

Wipe their debts clean, release them from all the stress they live under.
and start over.

Most people will still work even if they have a million dollars in the bank--especially if they feel they are working for something good, just and to the benefit of their space in the world.

[edit on 2-10-2008 by tdogg1]

reply to post by KaginD


1 million dollars is being a little overboard.
I suggested before.. If a taxpayer that puts in 10k per year in taxes.
They should be able to apply to get that back 1 time.
10,000 would = about the same amount as the 700 billion dollar bail out.

They will bail out the Fat Cats. But when it comes to us.. We are all skin and bone.
When they say we are helping the American people out.
They mean they are helping out American people who are those who are not us.. Sure our president is an American, and so are all those Fat Cats who made those mistakes..
So its not them telling a lie. They are helping out Americans..
But they are not helping out the American people.
10k isnt that much to ask back in support of helping out families who already put that in.
If you didnt work and pay that into taxes.. Or living here illegally.. Sorry Jack.. YOu dont get that money back..

reply to post by zysin5


I agree with you 100%. But, I must say.. 10K would do me nice right now lol. It would not help the people that really need it though. 10k wouldn't do jack for someone with massive credit card debt, car payments due, and a bad mortgage. And those are the people that I worry about. They are our family and friends that are suffering.