I'm not in a cherry mood these days. While I could relentlessly drift for another 12 months in the economic tsunami that has yet to stop spinning, I am beginning to despair as the country's entire underpinnings are being pulled out from under us much like an magician snaps a tablecloth out from under a dinner table setting. But alas, the recent round of manipulative economic tricks has again failed to succeed, leaving the president and congress stupidly standing, much like a teenage boy who's magic act went terribly wrong, amid the disarray of broken glasses and shattered dishes. Albeit, one step closer to socialism.
I am, of course, referring to the "Cash for Clunkers" chaos that only highlights the government's ineptitude when confronting all things economic. The congressional wizards can spend money like there's no tomorrow, but managing it with any finesse is not in their cards. The "clunkers" idea started as an in-vitro Frankenstein offspring with varying parts of government nannyism, meddling politician and Obama Marxist perfect world solutions. This bastard baby dies in less than a week.
The government began by fronting up to $4,500 for people to turn in their old gas guzzlers and purchase new cars with improved gasoline mileage. It was supposed to generate sales for dealers, improve the environment and pretty-up down and out Detroit for only a measly billion. That the EPA changed mileage figures the first day the program started should have been the tip off that things wouldn't go smoothly, and indeed they didn't. Deals that had been made minutes before the EPA announced their revised mpg figures were, suddenly, not honored. Worse, the government web site crashed at appropriately the wrong time, barring dealers from filing the contracts for payment. The situation was further inflamed when the estimated number of customer cars that would qualify, 250,000, was reached in less than 7 days. The government thought it would take until November! Some might call that a success, if success is the creeping march of socialism in place of our 200-year plus relic of capitalism everyone is so anxious to junk like used cars these days.
And that brings me to my current depression, a.k.a. The Great Recession, that torments me with better regularity than a morning bowl movement: the desire of government to salve the wounds of any and all unhappiness. There isn't a single problem that Obama and his minions of illusionists won't reconfigure to make you feel better... or at least think you are. The stock market, the banks, home foreclosures, cap and trade, car companies, health care, a hangnail, Jesus Christ the list goes on and so does our indebtedness.
Where will it end? What will it cost?
Simple. No government program ever goes away. I see it now, "Cash for Clunkers" will rear its ugly head again. Only this time it won't be cars, but people.
"Dad, sorry to see you go, but I'm getting $4,500 if I help you die."
Trade in or trade off?
Typicl right wing-nut opinion. You lose with no better solutions. FU.
ReplyDeleteHey Anonymous above - What opinion(?), asshole, the guy repeated only facts. What he said was the gov'ment needs to stay out of our cars and out of our lives and that is a solution, if you bother to read between the lines. You call that right wing-nut opinion? I'd call that common sense that most people understand, left or right.
ReplyDeleteA.P.
Well said, my friend. Well said!
ReplyDeleteWell, I don't see how you can call it anything less than a success. That's another 250,000 junk buckets off the road. Now that congress as allocated another 2 billion, we could get another 500,000 gas burning hogs off the road. Yes, I feel great that we owe another 3 billion we can't afford to get cars that constitute much less than 1% of the cars in America off the road. Yea, that's a success with this administration... my ass.
ReplyDeleteJohn in TX