Comments on: Government Seizes Stimulus Checks

By: Calliope

Calliope — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:58:25 +0000

I think it might be fair for insurance companies to regulate your diet and exercise if you were so obese that you’re costing them (and by definition, all their other premium-paying members) inordinate amounts of money for weight-related medical care.

Freedom of choice should only extend insofar as you don’t hurt other people with it, and in the U.S. we’re only just now starting to recognize the impacts of our individual choices. The environment is a good example – you may feel it’s totally your choice to drive an SUV, but when you do it, you’re having a very detrimental effect on people around you. On the whole world, in fact.

By: uni.versatility

uni.versatility — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 17:33:08 +0000

I just think that Congress should have made it clear when they passed the stimulus check bill. These students and citizens who were counting on getting $600 this month (and have probably budgeted it towards something) are totally shocked when the check never arrives. It should have been announced in the same breath of the checks.

And do you think it’s fair for our health insurance companies should be able to tell us how much to exercise or what foods to eat? It’s the same principle of choice.

By: Calliope

Calliope — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 23:40:38 +0000

To be fair, the government is using those checks to pay *federal* loans. If you owed me $30k and weren’t paying it back on time, I wouldn’t give you six hundred bucks either.

Not to mention – entering into a loan agreement is a legally binding obligation. Once you sign that promissory note, you are legally required to pay back the money on the agreed-upon schedule. So no, paying back your student loans isn’t a choice–it’s the law.

And those helmets and seatbelts? Not just for your safety. Guess whose insurance premiums go up to cover the costs when the non-seatbelt-wearing driver goes headfirst through the windshield?

By: Henry

Henry — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:40:32 +0000

Great point! Though this is a country of free choice, “supposedly,” this is a great life lesson of our need to be thoroughly informed before making decisions. Or especially spending money before we have it. I’m sure there is fine print in those government loans, etc., that does stipulate or has some loophole to allow the government to garnish these checks the way that they are.

But I definitely agree that it is very intrusive to handle “our supposed” money this way.