"I actually got a $300 check, and to be honest I think our country would have been better off if they'd kept the money. What serious effect is a $300 check in individual hands going to do for the economy?"

I think that I understand you a little better after reading this. You truly do believe that our government can better manage our money. You truly believe that our government has any shred of efficiency worth that level of trust. How many "Fleecing of America" and programs of the like do you need to see before you realize that they are completely inept at managing their affairs and your money. Whatever they actually appropriate to the local organizations is pillaged completely along the way until there is next to nothing for the cause for which the funds were destined. The only money that reaches it's destination is federal subsidies, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit, which is nothing more than a handout from the government trough.....a pure example of redistribution of wealth. It makes want to puke thinking about the utter waste in government and it ticks me off to no end to know that people still live with blinders on and believe that the system works.