Stimulus or bailout? Some people get it

Some people are starting to understand what is taking place with this sham of a stimulus package.

A woman and her husband walked up to me yesterday as a I sat in the Gateway Cafe and said "Hi, you are my alderman". I was sitting alone having picked up my weekly packet of mountains of paperwork for this week's city council meeting. I had the paperwork spread out all over the table.

I asked how everything was going for them and they had a couple of minor issues. The husband spoke of leaves jammed in his snowblower because of a new neighbor, but he seemed to have a handle on the situation.

The subject the woman wanted to talk about most was the bailout.

I was a little hesitant and asked "which bailout?" The "$800 billion bailout". "Obama's bailout." "You know that is a bailout too" she said.

Yes, ma'am I know that is a bailout too.

It does my heart good when I meet a total stranger and you see that folks are starting to understand exactly what this so called "stimulus package" entails.

There is a reason why Obama and the Democrats continue to call this a stimulus package, it is because the people will not support a bailout.

I immediately went from this thrill to a moment that was not so thrilling. I packed up my stuff at the restaurant and headed for home stopping at the gas station at the corner. I normally frequent this station on a daily basis.

I know a lot of the employees pretty well and they know I am an alderman. They ask a lot of political questions.

Directly after the restuarant incident, one of employees at the gas station asked me when he was going to get his check. "What check?", I asked. "The one from the stimulus", he said.

I felt bad telling him he was not going to get a check. He thought I was insane, all he has heard from the media and Obama was this stimulus stuff.

I told him that this "stimulus package" just rolled out by Obama and the Democrats has no stimulus check included, at least not yet.

A year ago, all the talk was about George Bush sending out another round of stimulus checks. Most Americans ended up getting a check of $600.

This incident made me wonder how many people hear the word stimulus and are thinking exactly what the young man at the gas station was thinking.

How many folks are supporting this bailout because they think Obama is going to send them a check and still create a high paying job for them?