It is the month of August, a resort town sits next to the shores of a lake.  It is raining, and the little town looks totally deserted.  It is tough times, everybody is in debt, and everybody lives on credit.

Suddenly, a rich tourist comes to town.  He enters the only hotel, lays a 100 dollar bill on the reception counter,  and goes to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick  a room.

The  hotel proprietor takes the 100 dollar bill and runs to pay his debt to the  butcher.  The Butcher takes the 100 dollar bill, and runs to pay his debt to the pig raiser.  The pig raiser takes the 100 dollar bill, and runs to pay his debt to the  supplier of his feed and fuel.

The  supplier of feed and fuel takes the 100 dollar bill and runs to pay his debt to the town's prostitute that in these hard times, gave her "services" on credit.  The hooker runs to the hotel, and pays off her debt with the 100 dollar bill  to the hotel proprietor to pay for the rooms that she rented when she  brought her clients there.

The  hotel proprietor then lays the 100 dollar bill back on the counter so that the rich tourist will not suspect anything.

At that moment, the rich tourist comes down after inspecting the rooms, and  takes his 100 dollar bill, after saying that he did not like any of the  rooms, and leaves town.

No one earned anything.  However, the whole town is now without debt, and looks to the future with a lot of optimism.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, could be how the United States Government is doing business today.

Instead of, or in addition to, bailing out the financial industry (and instead of giving me $13 extra dollars in my paycheck), earmark money for the citizens. Give us the $75 billion WE need to pay off our:
Credit cards, saving the banking industry.
Mortgages, saving housing.
Car loans, saving the auto industry.
Hospital bills, saving the health industry.
School loans, saving education.
With all the money we've freed up, then the citizens will go shopping, saving the retail industry.

I call this "Trickle UP Economics." Please send it to your congressional representatives, and your friends!