Who is being stimulated?

It appears those economic stimulus checks intended to boost the U.S. economy may be going instead to stimulate the petroleum industry.

A Washington state group says "a single parent with three children, or a couple with one child who filed joint tax returns, would have spent the equivalent of a $1,500 stimulus check between the week of Feb. 11, when the stimulus legislation was enacted, and this week."

Easy come, easy go.

The Washington Public Interest Research Group study says that while the money is going into the economy, it's not as widespread as the federal government had hoped.

One solution is if people used mass transit more often. But that's difficult when cities and the federal government are cutting spending on those services.

    -- Jim Grinstead