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The Internet is ablaze with a grand idea. Instead of bailing out AIG to the tune of $85 billion, why not divide the money among all 200 million or so U.S. adults? That gives $425,000 to every man and woman — $297,500 after taxes — at least according to the dozen or so emails I’ve received from readers including, most recently, my goombah, Michael. Great! Where do I sign up?
There’s just one small problem with the proposed plan: It only works out to $425 per person, not $425,000. Someone needs a refresher course in decimals. Oops.
Here’s the email:
I’m against the $85,000,000,000 bailout of AIG. Instead, I’m in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a We Deserve It Dividend.
To make the math simple, let’s assume there are 200,000,000 bonafide U.S. Citizens 18 and older. Our population is about 301,000,000 counting every man, woman and child, so 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and older. So dividing 200 million into $85 billion equals $425,000. My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18 and older as a We Deserve It Dividend.
Of course, it would not be tax free. So let’s assume a tax rate of 30%. Every eligible individual would pay $127,500 in taxes. That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam. But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500 in their pocket. A husband and wife have $595,000.
What would you do with $297,500 - $595,000 in your family?
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