"Let me put that on my debit card..."

Another stimulus package is likely to come along soon or, as Professor of Economics and finance at Yale University Robert Shiller suggested this past June, policy makers should “stand ready for another after that, and another.”

Details on how and where the next bailouts will be spent and to which bailiwicks they will be given are speculative but the possibilities are considerably different than those rebate check that dribbled through the economy over the past six months. More banks? More to Wall Street? The auto industry? Most Americans feel these are lost causes and do little to help them through their personal financial challenges.

President-elect Barak Obama is floating around the idea that, in addition to the Bush administration’s $700B bailout, another $700B may be necessary just to make a dent on the burgeoning challenges of the economy. One provision would allocate billions of dollars in funds toward projects to upgrade roadways, bridges and water systems. This is but a trickle of the $1-trillion some deem necessary to avoid further deterioration of the infrastructure.

The home mortgage crisis still demands bailout funds to hopefully avoid the next landslide of foreclosures… and the one after that. Governors want the assistance of federal dollars to meet their states’ needs for Medicare. Some would exempt the first $15,000 of income from payroll taxes. Extended and expanded unemployment benefits have already been given.

However bailout dollars are divvied up, people still want their own share of handouts and have control over how they spend whatever happens to be thrown their way, whether it’s spent, saved or invested. Immigrants, legal or otherwise, often send their money shares to families in their countries of origin. Using stimulus dollars in such a way defeats the purpose of getting money circulating in the American economy.

In 2007, immigrants sent over $40B to Latin American countries, of which more than half found its way to Mexico. Putting this in perspective, the $20B figure is more than Mexico’s yearly revenue from tourism. Although safeguards have been implanted to keep illegals from receiving rebate checks, this hasn’t prevented eligible immigrants from sending the money outside America’s borders. Regardless the exchange rate, it’s a bad trade-off for the greenback.

Economists admit that a good amount of stimulus dollars end up in foreign economies simply by Americans purchasing the endless variety of products manufactured overseas. This is unavoidable but there are steps that can be taken to make it more difficult for rebate recipients to exchange dollars for pesos, or any other currency.

The Treasury Department already issues pre-paid debit cards, called a Benefit Security Card, to Social Security recipients who don’t have a bank account for electronic direct deposit. The have proven to be an affective deterrent to identity theft and forgery, and the added problem of stolen checks. Nominal fees may be incurred for certain transactions on the debit card.

This same method of supplanting funds to taxpayers could be used to administer stimulus dollars, guiding all recipients to the intended goal of bolstering the economy through spending. Cash advances at ATMs could be restricted entirely. Other applications, such as money transfers outside the United States could also be restricted.

Debit cards would divert consumers away from putting their moneys into personal savings and investments – the only investment intended with a stimulus package is in the American economy, a concerted effort if it is meant to make a sizable difference.

Perhaps economist Robert J. Shiller will prove to be a bit of a prophet with his visions of multiple stimulus packages. Then again, perhaps fewer packages will be needed if consumers are made to spend their debit dollars on the goods and services offered by American businesses.

In any event, no one would turn down the opportunity to spend their token bailout funds with an extended arm offering payment with a piece of plastic saying, “Let me put that on my debit card…”

How stimulating!