By Samuel Strait, Report at Large – February 2, 2021

I have been asked the question, “Can the stimulus check be rejected?” 
People who think this way want to be thought of as personally
responsible folks, because they have sufficient income to live, and it
is a way for those people to say, “I’m better off than you are”, without
being obvious.  They often continue with, “Give it to the folks who
REALLY need it, because I’m in good enough financial shape not to need
it.”   Refusing the stimulus check, gives that person a sense of moral
superiority, because they believe the government’s apparent generosity
does not affect them, and it may not in any consequential way, but it
does affect them in ways that they clearly do not understand.

No government truly produces anything that earns it an income. Services
rendered by government are constructed by government. Money collected
that way is not actually income.  The government receives money from its
citizens through taxes, fees, fines, and sundry other mechanisms.  In
the Federal Government’s case, if it spends more money than it receives,
there are ways for it to make up the difference, not all is necessarily
beneficial to its citizens.  None of the money currently being handed
out willy nilly is budgeted.  The Feds can either borrow the money to
cover the expense, or as in many cases such as this, print more money.
It sounds like such a simple thing.  So how does it effect us, even
those that have refused the stimulus in the first place.

These simple bits of knowledge that were once part of America’s
educational system, now long gone, and are a big reason why our
leadership at all levels of government can even talk about such
irresponsible expenditures such as stimulus checks and the like. Whether
you accept one or not, everyone will pay a far bigger price in the near
future than the momentary thrill you got from getting that check.  By
government printing more money to allow for the checks in the first
place, the dollar will correspondingly be devalued.  In simple terms,
dollars will become less valuable. The loaf of bread you bought last
week will cost a few more cents to make and a few more cents for you to
buy.  Nearly everything will cost more, and for big ticket items,
substantially more. That twelve hundred dollar check you got last summer
and the six hundred dollar check recently will be a pittance when
compared to costs going forward.  It will be difficult for those who are
just making ends meet, and impossible for those not making it at all.
Those that think they currently are well enough off without that check,
may be thinking something different in the months and years ahead.

It is hard for many in this country to wrap our minds around the kind of
thought patterns that do not understand such a very basic financial
consequence.  Nothing is free.  At some point in the future all things
must be paid for by the person receiving the item, or in some cases
those that don’t.  So, do you still wish to refuse that Check?  I doubt
that the powers in DC are going to change their minds