Even before the WTC disaster, I was a follower of our president. Actually, I didn't vote for him, but once he was elected, I quickly got behind him. Although, I think his promise to send me $600 helped win me over. He did lose some points deciding to send the tax-relief checks out based upon the last four digits of your Social Security number instead of alphabetically, which is the American way of doing things. Because my numbers were high, I just got my check at the very end of September.

However, I needed the money months before and was more than willing to do my part in helping to jump-start our economy. I could have used the check in preparing for our trip to the Indian subcontinent last August. Between my wife and me, we spent over $600 getting our shots, buying prophylactic medicines, and a month's supply of toilet paper. Then there were the airlines tickets, ground transportation both here in the States and in South Asia. Nevertheless, the check wasn't cut until late September.

In addition, I could have spent the tax rebate check paying for meals and lodging while in Nepal, Tibet, and India. Even though neither food nor shelter was very costly, I surely dropped more than the $600. I know that the check was to restart our economy here in America, but I would have justified spending the money in Asia as United States foreign aid. You can't imagine the extent of the poverty in that area of the world; they surely need help.

Then there was the digital camera. I needed a good camera for all the prizewinning pictures that I was going to take while on the trip. I justified the expense of the camera because I would save a lot of money not having to process ordinary film. As it turned out, I took over 1500 pictures most of which are National Geographic quality, thanks to that expenditure.

I knew that I needed to get a color printer when we got back home but still no check. So, I had to buy it with my own money. Actually, according to the President, the rebate money was mine in the first place. I had to wait a couple of months before I did my patriotic duty of spending the economy out of teetering on the edge of a recession.

As you can tell, I have gone through my $600 allotment long ago. Therefore, when I finally did get my check, I merely endorsed it and sent it off to my credit card company. I hope that they put the money to good use and that they do their part in getting our economy going again.

Now, I get to the point of this article: I need a couple more of those tax-relief checks. I noticed that on the check were the words: Tax Relief for America's Workers. Hey, I've worked all my life. Isn't there some more of that money to go around? Another thing that caught my eye was that the check was sent from Austin, Texas. I thought that Washington was sending the money back to us working Americans from the federal surplus. My heart raced when I saw that the check originated from Austin. Perhaps, Mr. Bush sent me my check from his personal account. If so, there might be another one waiting for me-if I perchance needed it. Well, I do need it and would surely appreciate if he'd send me another couple of checks. I promise that I would put them to good use if he would be so kind and understanding to see his way to cutting additional checks. After all, I did my part; I spent my $600...a long time ago.

This article appeared in the Dixon Telegraph on 12/10/01.