CASH FOR CLUNKERS

Well here we go again with another government give away that is yet another political payoff to the automobile unions for its huge political financial support. Yes, the “Cash For Clunkers” (CFC) program appears to be a huge success (if you are an auto dealer or salesman, somewhat if you were in the car market) and a rare, successful government program, BUT….

Let me suggest that the quick action to extend the program that was taken by the House of Representatives was really a diversion to take the heat off their backs as they go home for the August recess. Just watch the Senate jump on the bandwagon before they adjourn, too. Both Houses of Congress are under the gun for their inept governance and voters are just waiting for them to come home so they can give them both guns. If they pass the likely extension of the Cash for Clunkers program they will point to their prompt and positive action to help their constituents. That is a classic example of TRANSFERENCE.

Have you considered that the “Cash For Clunkers” program was to run through NOVEMBER, 2009, or when the $1 billion allocated by Congress had been depleted? A four month program was spent in ONE WEEK? That alone should frighten every single American when it comes to Health Care Reform and the cost estimates being tossed about.

I just heard one of those know-it-all talking heads on a cable channel suggest that a renewal of CFC will open the door for every special interest and union official to flood Washington to get their members into the receiving line for a bail-out. I really wonder where this is going to end, because our nation is in major debt and there really is just so much foreign countries, like China, will loan us. Now one must have a very old car to be eligible for another entitlement program.

Let me suggest something else. After the August recess there is going to be some kind of watered down Health Care Bill passed. No doubt we are not going to like it, because we, the average citizens, do not have a lobbyist working for our special interests.

Will we end up with a committee of elite Czars deciding just what procedures will be performed as older taxpayers need medical care? I may end up just like an old car with a medical (repair) procedure not “worth” getting fixed because of the cost and sent to the junkyard, or would that be the graveyard? I see a direct similarity in the Cash for Clunkers program. If I get sick down the road they might decide I am too old and they will just crush me. Do you suppose they will send my widow a “cash for old guy” check, or will it be an estate tax bill?

Think about it. Do you wonder if President Obama will be thinking about you and me when he and his family along with First Puppy, Bo, are vacationing on Martha’s Vineyard in a home that rents for $35,000 per week? I suspect that Obama’s priorities are one hell of a lot different than yours and mine. The Shell Game continues, and no doubt they will get away with it again.

COMMANDER GRANGER