The Check's In The Mail

By now, most of us in the U.S. have received our letter from the IRS, informing us that the rebate check will be sent to us next month. (At a cost of $42 million dollars)

In case you’ve been on a desert island for the past two months with no contact with the civilized world, news sources, or e-mail. I’m talking about the government’s decision to send us all money to help the economy.

A few weeks ago, I contacted my senators and state representative to ask them to pay a visit to the IRS office and suggest that maybe they should just send the checks instead of the letters. That would save the taxpayers $42 million dollars, because that is the price tag for actually mailing the checks next month. If we only had one mailing that included the check, we wouldn't have to pay $84 million for our rebates.

Being an idealist, I was hoping that one of the senators, or my local representative would jump on the chance to do the right thing.

Sadly, the response I received from my state representative was a form letter thanking me for my inquiry about restrictions on credit cards and proposed tax increases. One senator also thanked me for my interest in tax reform, and the other just sent a form letter letting me know that the amount of mail received makes it impossible to respond personally to every letter, but I could rest assured that he has the concerns of all constituents in mind as he conducts business in Washington. (Not his exact words, but close enough.)

Hello? That is not what I wrote you about.

I was disappointed. Really disappointed. There is still a part of me that wishes....hopes...would like our representatives to really represent us. That we can have some influence on what happens in Washington. Otherwise, we might as well sit back and just let them steamroll us.