You can't buy my love for 45 dollars

The above title differs only slightly from that of a song by Mark Russell, circa 1978. In one of his, at the time, fresh and original PBS specials, he lampooned President Jimmy Carter's $50 rebate, intended to stimulate our stagflated economy.

Now in 2005, just about anyone who filed an Oklahoma tax return for 2004 have received rebate checks in the mail: $45 for individual taxpayers, $90 for joint filers. The money's being sent back because the state had more money than it needed this year, enough to pay the bills and top up the "Rainy Day Fund."

A friend e-mailed to complain about the inequity of the rebate:

The $45 I received yesterday is exactly the amount my assistant got the same day, yet I paid ten times the state tax she paid. This is a form of communism (what appears to be mine is actually "ours", so we're here to take it). If this were a true refund and not a redistribution of wealth, I would have received ($45+$45)x(10)/(10+1) or $82 and my assistant would have received $8, but instead, Gov Henry has taken some of my money and given it to my assistant.

It ain't right, Mike, yet no one I've spoken with about this had realized they'd just had their farm collectivized. Had you even realized it?

Hadn't even occurred to me, but he has a point. At least it wasn't the whole farm. And no kulaks were harmed in this redistribution process, which is nice.