We tried trickle down economics and many of us think this hasn’t worked very well.

I propose that we try Trickle Up for a change.

My plan is simple; give every taxpayer $100,000. People filing jointly would get $150,000. People making over $250,000 per year would not be included in the program.

The math goes like this: there are 138 million taxpayers in the U.S.

Somewhere between 7% to 10 % of those people make over $250,000 so that leaves between 124.2 million and 126.4 million people to get checks.

All of which is to say that the program would cost approximately 12 and a half Trillion Dollars.

That’s not chump change folks so hang on for the ride.

The checks could come in two halves ($50,000 and $50,000) a few months apart. This is done to prevent total shock and give people time to correct their initial plans and give the first

$50,000 a chance to get back into the economy. That should happen rapidly.

Those checks are going to fly by the IRS first and if you owe back taxes those taxes will be taken out of your checks without any IRS charges for interest and penalties levied against the back taxes. There will be NO federal income taxes (? State taxes-details to be worked out) on the remaining amount you receive.

What will we do with the money?

I think most of us would agree that we’d pay off bills and get that monkey off our backs first.

The bills we suffer under mainly are credit card debt, mortgage debt, medical bills, student loans; those pesky bills that we never seem to gain on no matter how hard we try.

Now the vast majority of us are out from under and back to zero balances.

That money went directly back to the banks where it came from, so the banks should be very happy. They can begin to loan out that money again immediately.

The second thing that buries us is our mortgage payments; maybe we should pay down our mortgages to an affordable level.

You don’t own a home? Now you have a good down payment on getting your own home.

It should be possible now to relocate if you want and get a house. You’ll still have payments to make so keep those monthly payments low where you’ll be able to make them each month.

Loads of people can now avoid foreclosure and remain in their homes. Others are new homebuyers and helping to reduce that large inventory of houses and stabilize the real estate market.

You might want to by a car, or go shopping, just think hard about what you’re doing first; but it is your money after all. It’s all going to get back into the economy sooner than later.

Some younger people might want to pay for an education or specialized training to ready them for the future.

Older folks might want to get an annuity to augment their social security checks and pay for additional medical insurance. They might even want to start education funds for their grand-children as some parents might also want to do for their kids.

Investment in the real estate market or the stock market might interest some people.

Small businesses might get started or at least revitalized with some of the money.

Charities and good works can benefit via contributions from people feeling good about themselves for a change.

The fact is that the money will quickly find its way back into the economy.

The advantage is that normal Taxpayers will be able to better their lives and situations with this money before the money is placed back into the overall economy.

This won’t cure all the ills but it’s a start. We will still need more good jobs and a new direction for the future.

This isn’t something for nothing, we all have worked hard to build our lives this will aid in that continuing process and strengthen our country as well in these trying times.

I just saw your blog post about green jobs in LA. I agree that it is important to consider sustainable solutions when deciding how to go about strengthening the economy! I’m working with a progressive bank that has recently been endorsed by Van Jones, author of "The Green Collar Economy," because of their 35-year commitment to environmental responsibility and community development.

We have some Van Jones video clips that we'd be happy to share with you, and we would like to send you a promotional pack.

Please let me know if you are interested, I look forward to hearing from you.

The US doesn't have $12.5 trillion for a handout. On the outside it has $700 billion; beyond that the Fed will have to start raising interest rates to avoid hyperinflation.

Don’t forget the “Little Guy"

With all this talk about economic bailout, the little guy has been pushed out of the line and that’s not fair. All these companies; Citibank, the auto industry, the mortgage companies, they are all standing in line with their hands out demanding their fair share of the bailout money and nobody has stopped and listened to the Little Guy. You remember Joe the plumber, Wendy the waitress, Nancy the nurse? They were brought to the world’s attention during the Presidential election. Now the government seems to have forgotten them.

There has been talk of another economic stimulus. $700 billion plus dollars have been created for our economy so that it may pick itself up off the floor and move again. President Bush did that for us little guys last year. It helped a little and Nancy the nurse? They were brought to the world’s attention during the Presidential election. Now the government seems to have but there weren’t enough funds for him to draw on to make much of a difference. (God bless him for trying.) But now, with the news coming out of Washington, there are enough funds available to help everyone if they were dispensed properly. Consider this…

There are an estimated 350 million people in the United States. Give each person $100,000 dollars stimulus. Each and every person will then begin spending the money. They will pay off mortgages; pay off their car loans; student loans; credit cards. They will buy new cars; they will flood the malls and retail stores. They will invest in stocks and bonds and maybe buy new homes.

This stimulus money will take people off unemployment and welfare. It will enable the homeless to get homes; the sick to get medical care; and the hungry to get food. It will bring families back together that have been separated due to the current condition of our economy. It will shore up the very foundation of our economy because, believe it or not, the foundation of our economy is built on the “little guy”.

Ah, but what’s the catch? The catch is there can be no price gouging by the markets. A $100,000 home can’t suddenly be priced at $1 million. Gasoline can’t suddenly cost $50.00 per gallon. A loaf of bread can’t suddenly cost $20.00. It cannot be allowed. The cost of goods and services must remain at their current levels. Windfall profiteering must be prevented.

The other catch; this stimulus proposition must be acted on now, before Christmas, if it is to have the impact on the economy that I have laid out for you.

I am one of the “Little Guys” and my hand is out for all of us so that we may get our fair share of the billions of dollars in the bailout program. Do you see me?

Ruth, are you trying to confirm the stereotype of liberals as people who don't know anything about money? 300 million Americans times 100,000 dollars per American equals 30 trillion dollars. The US economy makes 14 trillion a year, and the world economy makes 60 trillion. In other words, the resources of the entire world for six months have to be expended to support this stimulus.

Kristina,
You understand nothing about hyperinflation do you?? With that much money floating around in consumers hands, do you really expect that businesses will not raise their prices?? That 100 or 150k would basically quickly become worth much much much less.

I'm sorry but we have to let these businesses fail or at least file bankruptcy and then determine if they are capable of competing. There is no idication that they are capable or will become so. Why not let them fall and let new, more efficiently run American automobile manufacturers be able to step up to the plate.

Besides, the government does not have the funds to be bailing anyone out! We shouldn't have done it with the banks and we shouldn't be doing it now. Congress and the fed is taking money out of the hands of the people and transforming it into a little green piece of paper worth absolutely nothing. We do not have the gold backing for all this paper. That is what started this problem and by doing more of the same on a higher scale, is going to fix nothing. Money is worth something only because it is rare and there is only so much to go around, by printing new bills, driving down the worth of each bill printed and already in circulation, and dealing with massive amounts of credit and "pretend" money, we aren't fixing this problem. We are simply selling the problem to our children and grandchildren so that we may live more comfortably right now.