Why the Economic Stimulus Plan Sucks

I'm entering this conversation wicked late, and there's obviously nothing than can be done to stop the checks, but the stimulus plan sucks. I'm no economist, but it seems like a big fat waste of a huge amount of money: $145 BILLION! Most Americans will receive a few hundred dollars--over a thousand for some. And they'll buy stuff--maybe that they need, maybe that they don't. I'll use most of the money I receive to pay off some debt. I might buy a thing or two. But I can't get that figure out of my head: $145,000,000,000. What could the government do with that kind of cash, rather than offering micro band-aids to Americans to take their minds off an economic recession? Health care, maybe? Or the development of alternative energies--so that we can stop borrowing money to buy oil and maybe one day achieve energy independence, like Iceland and Sweden(booming economies). Like I said, I'm no economist: Stimulus issues; Much more awesome.