A stimulus package we can all live with

Latest I've read about Mr. Obama's wonderful stimulus package is that it's going to be gone at 'slowly' by Congress.

It's apparent to me that if there's to be a really effective stimulus package, it must be done at the lowest level of government - at the hands of the taxpayer. If we wait for the government to enact a new stimulus law, precious time will be lost, not to mention all the inefficiencies of government that will creep in to raise the cost of the whole thing.

So, here's my proposal. All of us taxpayers should simply file our tax statements with a note stating that the money that normally would go to the IRS to be absorbed into the black hole of Washington politics will instead be kept by each of us and spent or invested as we individually see fit. If your state is one of the five demanding $1,000,000,000 from the taxpayers as a "bailout', as my state of Wisconsin is, the same could be applied to your state income tax.

The result will be a immediate uptick in the economy as the stimulus funds reach each taxpayer instantly, with no middlemen and their inherent costs. Each dollar of stimulus thus spent will have the effect of two to ten dollars of government-doled money, since all of it will go to its' intended purpose.

Another benefit will be to starve the ravenous beast of big government. It's my feeling that government gets nastier when overfed, so a diet will do nothing but good.

A third benefit is that this form of stimulus does not either increase our national debt nor cause inflation, since it does not involve the Treasury either issuing bonds or printing money.

Besides, supposedly we've got a national epidemic of obesity. Let's help our government lead the way in slimming down, and therefore give all of us a good role model!