The Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 is an Act of Congress providing for several kinds of economic stimulus intended to boost the United States economy in 2008 and to avert or ameliorate a recession. It was signed into law by President George W. Bush on February 13, 2008.

My vacation is coming soon and the first thing I'm going to do when I get there is to send President George W. Bush a "Having A Great Time, Wish You Were Here!" card. I'll be fishing in the Gulf of Mexico soon and thanks to him, I can afford to do so a little longer than I'd planned. It just seems fair to thank him for giving me a few days more in the sun and surf, by sending him a card. It's the least I can do!

Instead of my already planned vacation to St. George Island on Apalachicola Bay, Florida, thanks to President Bush's economic stimulus package I have now extended my time down on the "forgotten coast".

Last week I received a letter from the IRS informing me that my wife and I would be receiving a check from the government sometimes in May. I immediately called the real estate broker from which I had rented a house on the island for a week and added a few more days to the stay. I hung up the phone with a feeling of patriotism, having done my duty in helping to stimulate our economy!

Springtime fishing on Apalachicola Bay is always good. Pompano, redfish, trout, flounder and mackerel live in these waters and always bite aggressively in the spring. The wonderful thing about fishing is that you can relive those exciting moments, like last year when a big fish broke my line and headed to South America. I love memories like that!

While I'm fishing this year, I'm sure I'll take a few minutes between strikes to mull over this free money experiment from our President. Polls today have predicted that many would save the money they receive. If that happens, the economy will not be stimulated and this project will fail.

If everyone is as happy as I am spending the money, it will be a huge success, though I can't help but wonder that if the $300 I'll receive will help the economy so much, why not send me $3000? Wouldn't that help the economy more?

This year I hope the fishing will be as good as last year when I hooked 2 three pound Pompanos on the same line at the same time. I had two hooks tied onto my line about two feet from the bottom, with a two ounce triangle weight tied to the end of the line.

I had just thrown the rig into the Gulf when a school of Pompanos swam by, striking at anything that looked like food. The shrimps attached to the hooks on the end of my line were just too appetizing to pass up!

If you've have ever caught two fish at once you know how crazy the fight to bring them into the net is going to be. I had six pounds of fish on my line and one wanted to go to the right and the other to the left, leaving me with a bent rod and a question of exactly what was on the end of my line.

From the difficulty I was having in bringing them onto the beach, it felt as if I had hooked onto an armored car that was trying to take my rod and me to Mexico. It wasn't until I had brought them into a few feet of the shore that I saw there were two of them. I'm sure there'll be just an exciting time this year when I spend extra time on the beach, thanks to Mr. Bush. I'm beginning to like him more all the time!

While sorting out my tackle box in anticipation of my trip south, I have another thought about this stimulus program. Why did they have to send out letters to all America's tax payers telling us that they're going to get money from the government in May 2008?

I'm no economist, but as far as I can see, the only thing that will be stimulated with this expenditure is the government. Why do they need to spend, according to Fox News, CNN, ABC, CBS and NBC, about 45 million dollars on mailing notices that we're going to get money from the government?

They could just send my money down to the coast with my new friend George. That way he could make sure the economy would get its boost and he might even catch a fish!