Hey, remember the government stimulus money of 2008? You know, the financial equivalent of a steroid to the already overgrown American spending habit — $600 for individuals, the $1,200 for married couples and the $300 for children who qualified?

The idea: You’d get some government cash and spend it on replacing those filthy window coverings and the commission-earning saleswoman would take her money and buy new car tires from a mechanic who would then buy her kids books…until we were all just one happy economy again.

Well, just when the government figured that if the American people were reliable for one thing, it would be an impulsive need to accumulate more stuff, half the country turned around and acted responsibility. Yes, nearly half of Americans who got checks used their money trying tame what might just be the monster-sized credit card bills – probably the ones that carried economic growth in the first place – and put it toward reducing debt.

Not shopping.

Go figure.