What do you mean, the stimulus payments aren't working?

Not very long ago, I mentioned to a friend that the only thing my stimulus payment would be stimulating was my bill-paying activities. Evidently I'm not the only one:

Consumers Lean on Rebate Checks for Bills and Gas

I don't understand why they sound so surprised, as I have been predicting this for months. Most people I know are behind on their bills, or have credit card debt they want to pay off, or both. Our culture already allows people to live far behind their means by racking up credit, so by the time this stimulus payment was even discussed, most people were past the point of being able to spend it on frivolous shopping.