A Stimulus Plan that Works

There's a tremendous amount of talk lately about a stimulus. President Obama and the members of the Congress and Senate are at this very minute working desperately to pass a $805,000,000,000.00 (805 billion dollars!) economic stimulus package. Of course if this is passed the payback will certainly be well over a trillion dollars. Add that to the previous 819 billion dollar package passed by the Bush administration, Congress and Senate, and our government has or will spend over two trillion dollars of our tax dollars. And you can bet that we will be paying back this bill for a long time to come!

Call me crazy but I think I could come up with a stimulus plan that would guarantee an economic boom in America and probably the world. And my stimulus plan wouldn't cost us two trillion dollars, not even two billion, even less than a 1/2 billion. How would it work?

Simple, give every taxpaying American a one million dollar stimulus check. Since America's total population is less than 304 million people, taxpayers conservatively speaking may be around 250 million. So, for only one quarter of a billion dollars we could make every taxpaying American an instant millionaire. Can you imagine what would happen?

The housing market would have an immediate rebound. Practically every mortgage in America could be paid off overnight! Most consumer debts could be paid back such as car loans, credit cards, educational loans, and medical expenses. Once again, the banks and car makers would be back in the black without owing the government a dime. People might even be more generous and churches along with other benevolent organizations could see budgets exceeded for the first time in many years.

I know it's crazy. The government would rather throw away 78 billion dollars in overpayment of the TARP plan to the banks than give back a quarter of a billion to the American taxpayer. Whose money is it in the first place?

The government thinks it is theirs. And they want more of it. They don't want you to have it. They would rather we all be dependent on Uncle Sam than be financially independent.

Personally I'm not looking to Washington to be my savior. I think the Washington politicians have lost their minds. So I'm looking to the One who is far greater, wiser and more powerful than any who are seeking to lead us, or mislead us today.

And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you. Psalm 39:7

The Legend of Valentine's Day

So, what’s the big deal about Valentine’s Day? Other than the fact that some of the greatest people who have ever lived were born on Valentine’s Day, February 14th, what’s so special about this day? To help find an answer to such a question I consulted that infinite source of knowledge that grows daily on the information highway, “Wikipedia.” This is what Wikipedia had to say about the history of Valentine’s Day, or at least the ones I found most interesting.

“Valentine's Day or Saint Valentine's Day is a holiday celebrated on February 14 by many people throughout the world. In the West, it is the traditional day on which lovers express their love for each other by sending Valentine's cards, presenting flowers, or offering confectionery (that means candy laced with sugar, emphasis mine). The holiday is named after two among the numerous Early Christian martyrs named Valentine. The day became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.

An alternative theory from Belarus states that the holiday originates from the story of Saint Valentine, who upon rejection by his mistress was so heartbroken that he took a knife to his chest and sent her his still-beating heart as a token of his undying love for her. Hence, heart-shaped cards are now sent as a tribute to his overwhelming passion and suffering” (gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, I give you my heart doesn’t it? Again the emphasis is mine).

I’ve always wished my mom would have given me the middle name “Valentine.” I would have been Bobby Valentine Earls. Kind of has a nice ring to it doesn’t it?

All joking aside, Valentine’s Day is a wonderful day of the year. Its tradition affords us the opportunity to express to those we truly love our appreciation and great love for them. We are given the opportunity to focus on what is really important in life, long, loving, and committed lifetime relationships.

Obviously the most important of all loving relationships we have as Christians is the love we share with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us that He loved us with an everlasting love, Jeremiah 31:3. So take time to express your love to those who are close to you, but also, remember to tell the Lord how much you love Him as well.