After careful speculation, I have come to the conclusion that one of the surest ways to make sure my stimulus check really works for the US economy is to donate part of it to the Obama campaign. I can be sure the money is spent within the US economy employing US workers. The stories of the Clinton campaign not paying some of their bills really turned a light on in my head. There are many small US businesses that do work for political campaigns. This economy has hit small businesses particularly hard.
There are several things I am sure we are all thinking about buying with our "Economic Stimulus" checks. It is getting hard to buy any material good that is actually made in the USA. Many the great electronic gadgets developed by US companies over the last few years are not manufactured in the US.
--iPods/iPhones - China
--Most camcorders - Japan, Korea or China
--Most video projectors - China
--TVs - Asia
--Most Musical Instruments (with a few exceptions)- Asia
--New Game Machine - China or Japan
It has gotten to the point where we can not buy any "goodies" that are made in the US. How can we truly "stimulate" the economy and not merely shift more money out of the country? Going out of the country does little "work" for the economy.
I am glad I asked. ;)
We can spend our money on people and services. Right now, political campaigns are generating a great amount of work for printers, events planners, drivers, caterers, custodial services, overtime for University employees, etc. There is also likely increased business at restaurants in areas after events (no I'm not buying for the throngs that show up for a rally. They can use their money for that). Anyway, if that printer, caterer or event planner needs to hire additional people to handle the work, excellent! If campaign work helps these businesses keep current staff employed, excellent! If some of those employees now have some extra money and, say, eat at a restaurant, that money is working for the economy again. The wait staff gets a tip (you do tip, don't you?) and spends that money on food, rent, etc and the money works some more. The longer we can keep money circulating through the US economy, the better it stimulates it.
Now let's look at my end reason for donating to Obama. I believe he has the right ideas on economic issues. For far too long, the US economy has been geared to benefit the very wealthy. Not the wealthy, the VERY wealthy. The thing about accumulation of massive wealth is it removes money from the economy. No matter how hard you try, you are going to find it difficult to spend $50 million a year without just transferring it other very wealthy people. Our economy thrives when the same dollars are spent dozens of times during the course of a month. Billions sitting in off-shore bank accounts are not working for the economy. McCain seems ready to keep the current practices in place. Obama supports making the system fairer for those of us making less than $1 million a year. We can not afford NOT to elect Obama.
I am not saying I am going to send all my check to Obama. Unfortunately, food and fuel prices are killing me and I need most of the check to pay off debt I have added to be able to drive to work, take my son to school and feed my family. I can say that I will be making a donation in the $150-200 range. If we all make a $50-100 donation, we can keep a ton of folks employed and get future on the right track.
Update/clarification
No one should donate money if they need to take care of their families or massive Bushonomic debts. I am just saying we should consider the value of buying an iPod against financing the future.
RDemocrat made a very good point. Obama may be doing fine on cash and there are plenty of state and local political campaigns that could use money. A donation to a campaign in your "backyard" more directly stimulates the ideas and economy in your area.