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• The patron saints of today's news 1/21/08

CONTACT THE HERALD

Mike Benbow, Business Editor benbow@heraldnet.com

Tax-rebate debate: Spend it or save it?

By Mike Benbow

Just what the heck is wrong with you, anyway?

Don't worry. This isn't a quiz. I'll tell you what's wrong with you. You are too darn responsible.

Our president tells you that if Congress is going to give you a check, he expects you to spend it. He wants you to dump that money back into the economy the minute you get it into your hot little hands.

Can you say big screen TV. Think bigger. New car? Bigger. Dinner out? Take your friends with you.

The president didn't really say that, but he does want people to start spending a little more to kick-start the economy and get it back on track again.

Even Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke supports a short-term boost to the economy.

But you're not buying it.

I assume you saw Saturday's story, the one in which members of the community responded to the big question: How would you spend a rebate?

If you didn't, let me sum up the responses: You were boring. You were reasonable. You thought about your future. Or you thought about the here and now, how you planned to pay off bills, not launch a spending spree.

The story was based on responses from the Herald's Reader Network. The network is not a scientific poll, just a way to get a sense of what people in Snohomish County are thinking.

Here's what you're thinking: You're worried about how much gas costs these days. You're worried about the bills that are stacking up. You're worried about how you're going to send your kids to college. You're worried that your property tax bill can't seem to stop going up. In some cases, you're worried how you're going to feed your family.

So your responses were so, well, responsible.

You want to put the money on those bills or fill up the gas tank a few times. You want to stick it in the bank for a rainy day.

You've discovered that we can't keep driving everywhere we want on $3.50 gasoline. You've listened to the reports that say Americans aren't saving enough. You've watched college tuition soar. You realize that as a member of the Baby Boomer generation, you will be responsible for your retirement -- that Social Security may or may not be there and that you won't get a company pension as your dad did.

So you plan on being a responsible spender, against the advice of your government.

Maybe you acted that way because we asked readers to give us their names along with their responses. Nobody wants to look like a spendthrift.

Since we asked you about your plans, I'll tell you mine. I haven't decided what to do, yet, but I've got my eye on a digital camera and some lenses. I've been thinking about it for two years now. Instead of buying one, I've been reducing my credit card debt. But I'm getting closer all the time. (And the camera I want is getting cheaper as the months go by.)

A rebate could put me over the top. After all, my government needs me. And we can't all be responsible.

Mike Benbow: 425-339-3459; benbow@heraldnet.com.