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Today's Nuze

"Every government interference in the economy consists of giving an unearned benefit, extorted by force, to some men at the expense of others."

Ayn Rand

Nobody's listening.

THIS WOULD MATTER --- IF PEOPLE WERE ONLY PAYING ATTENTION

By
Neal Boortz
@ August 3, 2009 8:20 AM
Permalink | Comments (46) | TrackBacks (0)

Well look at what we have here .. a government program that couldn't be properly executed. I'm sure you've been following the giant "oops" that is this "cash for clunkers" deal. The first sign that things were going bad happened when the EPA decided to change which cars were eligible for the program AFTER it had already started. Then the $1 billion allotted to the program quickly disappeared. Then we have government computers that couldn't handle the work. Finally cash-for-clunkers became the clunker.

So what's the logical next step? Let's ask for more money! So the House voted on Friday to give the program another $2 billion. Now it is on to the Senate where it may not be as easy to pass. If it doesn't pass in the Senate, Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood says that the government would probably then kill the program. Meanwhile, car dealerships are left to figure out what to do.

Are you paying attention to this? The whole cash-for-clunkers bit shut down last week because of government bureaucracy and a little problem about running out of money. For generations car salesmen in every corner of this country have been handling the paperwork required to trade in an old car for a new one with ease. After all, how many of you have ever visited a car dealer wanting to trade in a clunker on a new car, only to be told to go away because they just can't process your paperwork.

But ... put government into the equation and what happens? All hell breaks loose, that's what happens. The Imperial Federal Government of the United States interposed federal red tape into the middle of the buyer-used car salesman transaction and everything ground to a screaming halt. How much paper and red tape? Try 130 pages of regulations for a start. How many car salesmen do you think have to deal with a 130-page rule book when they take a car in on trade for a new one.

Now John McCain is likely to filibuster any proposal in the Senate for new money. The Republicans are playing this one up as just another example of government's inability to run anything efficiently. Considering the current healthcare debate, this does not bode well for the Obama administration that wants the government to be in charge of your healthcare. Jim DeMint is one of those Senators who are drawing the comparison. He says, "The federal government went bankrupt in one week in the used-car business, and now they want to run our health care system ... This is crazy to try to rush this thing through again while they're trying to rush through health care, and they want to get on to cap-and-trade electricity tax. We've got to slow this thing down."

OK ... so the government screwed things up royally when politicians inserted government into car sales. Just what in the hell do you think is going to happen when we insert even more government into your relationship with your doctor? If government bureaucracy screws up a car sale, think of what it is going to do for a treatment plan for your cancer.

If you don't understand the trouble that's coming ... please burn your voter registration card.



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What others are saying

  • AS
    http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/08/email-of-the-day.html

    yup
  • Added Flight Ratings for Income
    I'm wondering... why are my tax dollars subsidize another's purchase of a new car. Can I get another taxpayer's money to add to my flight ratings and subequently improve my income as a flight instructor? Heck, I might even be able to pay more taxes! Not that I'd want to.
  • love McCain
    I just love that man, LOVE. Follow him on Twitter, SenJohnMcCain, he twitts all the time and give out some good scoop . He's devotedly against this clunker stupidity.

    Anyway, I don't know how many people realize that Obama actually didn't come up with this clunker disaster, this program has been going on in Europe for a few months. Some say it has been successful - for example in Germany. But their vouchers weren't nearly as high, and they obviously have a different situation there, with their $6 per gallon gasoline. In my opinion, it's too soon to tell whether it improves economy in any way in a long run.

    Anyhow, I have no idea how can the administration be surprised by how many people in America went for this, since in Europe there was complete madness about this when they first started. Obama should have known based on their example. But that's expecting logical thinking, and I guess that is too much to handle for Democrats.

    Also, english is not my first language, but I believe the story "Bootz---solving your problems" contains a grammatical error, Neal. It says "Well...there's two answers to that." Two answers - that would be "there are" not "there is" . Neal, the grammatically obsessed made an error?
  • Simple Math
    Not sure who did the math but add pent up vehicle purchases and end of model year surpluses it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the 1 billion dollars goes fast. Simple division shows that you will only be able to service a little over 200K vehicle sales before the money is shot. So much for the invisible hand, the dealers will pay on the 2010 models, so I hope they planned their PINS on this program. Not sure but I have a feeling that much like the 26 week jobless benefits that keep getting extended this program too will cost much more than originally stated. I would bet that we will see at least 10 billion or more sunk in this program and the evil insurance companies will make even more profit as these new cars need coverage. My prediction is we will see this program extend to over the road vehicles, appliances and other type items. I think at some point every American will receive their clunker benefit regardless of their trade-in just to be FAIR!
  • Cash for Clunkers
    To bad some these "Clunkers" which are in decent shape couldn't be sold at a discount to some not so well to do people who would appreciate decent transportation.
  • There are two statements that amaze me about this whole issue:

    (1) "The program is not a failure. It's a huge success. So successful, in fact that it needs additional funding."

    If I create a program to give a free $50K sports car to anyone making under $75,000 and fund it with $1B, it would probably run out of money pretty quickly. Does that mean the program is a huge success? I'm sure those people receiving the sports cars are happy as well as the manufacturers and sellers of the sports cars, but I don't see why that makes it a successful program.

    (2) "C for C is a wonderful economic stimulus program."

    Staying with the previous analogy, the program is a great stimulus for sports car manufacturers and salesmen, but at what cost? $1B first had to be taken away from taxpayers before it could be given away in the form of sports cars. What would the taxpayers have done with that money?

    Furthermore if the government were to pay $150K for each $50K sports car it gives away, would you still call this a good program or an economic stimulus? In reality, it looks like the government is taking $25K from the taxpayers for each clunker it purchases under the Cash for Clunkers program (even though the maximum subsidy is $4,500) --- that's government efficiency for you.
  • whoa, truly horrible
    http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/04/business/04auto.html?8au&emc=au

    you guys are right, this thing is a stinker
  • The Banksters are laughing all the way to the... well... bank.
    No one seems to have picked up on how this is also a huge governmental payoff to the banksters, as well.

    How many people have gone out and traded in otherwise perfectly servicable vehicles that they were planning to hang on to for a few more years, just so they can go take out another loan that they didn't need? How many billions of dollars of loans were just created that otherwise wouldn't have been there? Meanwhile the banksters just sit back and laugh, and collect all that new interest money coming in.
  • Off topic
    Just read this little diddy today, thot it fitting. Probably not new but I don't recall seeing this one.

    Politicians and diapers. Both need to be changed, and for the same reason.
  • The Good News is...
    The best thing about this circus called "The Obama Administration" is that it will hopefully lead to greater economic freedom when Obama becomes an oxygen thieving ex-president in 2012. Just like when Reagan replaced Carter.
  • Figures
    Did anyone expect this Government program to operate smoothly???
    Here is yet ANOTHER example of how broken our Government is..
    any program they start will result in future robbery of your money...
    Another "OOPS" we miscalculated the cost..error...
    I agree with Tim...I feel we're doomed
  • can you............................
    ok!!!! don't pay the ransom I iz 'xcaped....

    cash for whatever.....$4500 for my '52 chevy pickem up that ain't run since '64 I luv's this gubmint crapola..

    can you spel stoopid.............yes I can....

    osamabama........
  • Clunkers program dents used-car sales
    http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2009/08/03/story3.html

    just another instance were the government hurts/helps citizens
  • I'm with Paul
    In 1998, I bought a 99 Saturn SL and have driven it until last month when it conked out on me in the middle of an intersection. I went to get a new vehicle, and guess what, my Saturn doesn't qualify as a clunker. Gas mileage is too good (I was getting 33 mpg). So, no rebate for me and a true "clunker". Some people are trading in cars not even 5 yrs old and getting $4500?
    Yeah, no one said life is fair, but now I'm paying for my new car and my neighbor's!
  • They'll never
    be able to kill my CFC car!! I use all those expensive engine, transmission and paint additives that make them impervious to ALL those evil chemicals, dirt and grime and elements!!

    MMMWWUUUAAAAAAAAHHAAAHHAAHHAAAHAAHAHAAAH
  • Clunkers
    The C for C law dictates that the so called clunkers are disabled by the dealer. The car is disabled by pouring a silicate solution into the oil fill and running the engine until it seizes.

    I read an article on this and the author was writing about an early 90's BMW with 150,000 on the clock being disabled this way. Hell that BMW was just entering its prime. I would have driven that car. What a waste! All in the name of the green gods. How stupid and wasteful have we become as a society?
  • Extra cash for clunkers
    What about the acidic chemical that they are suppose to put in the engine to run for a few minutes until the engine freezes up? That's crazy! Why not just use water?
    Better yet, why not allow the cars to be sold for parts, and make money, as long as the gov't gets back their investment? Let some individual try to profit from the sale of parts! Give it a shot!
    We all know the answer to that one. The congressmen writing the LAW, aren't smart enough to present a LAW that fits the needs of our communities. They are not up to the job! Only free enterprise offer a true version of how to make your money back, and then some! They are clueless!
  • Perfect example of Gov't Interference in the private sector
    A shining example of why government should never, ever get involved in the economy.

    And commies like snarkeeturd/3mbw clamor for more? Priceless.
  • The first Billion was supposed to last 3 - 4 months.
    It lasted 3 - 4 days.

    By my calculations a month is about 30 times longer than a day, so they under estimated the cost for this program by about 30 times.

    So if they underestimated the cost of health care by the same amount it will only cost $45,000,000,000,000 (that's TRILLION)over the first 10 years.

    I'm thinking that $45 trillion is a whole lot closer than the $1.5 trillion they estimate.
  • Cash for Clunkers Absurdity
    Let me get this right. Our govt will pay $4500 for a car that doesn't meet certain standards for us to buy a govt produced vehicle that loses $2k - 4k each. Then they have instituted a program that probably costs another $2 - 4k to dispose a car and then ultimately ships the scrap to China where they make more products for us. China is probably getting the recycled scrap metal lower than market. Now this is change you can believe in.

    I haven't checked, but is the cash for clunkers program only for GM and Chrysler? Isn't there something in the Constitution that prevents favoring one entity over another (attainder?). I'll trade in my vehicle, but I sure the heck am not buying a govt produced vehicle.
  • All that "free" money
    Ha! Anticipating that CFC money provided by the Imperial Fed that actual car buyers (I wonder how many can actually afford them) effectiviely DELAYED a stimulus in the car industry? Now I wonder what's going to happen when we have an auto crisis similar to the housing crisis......so many cars that can't be paid for (what happened to the unemployment factor? After all, money is scarce these days, isn't it?)all in the name of fairness and all thanks to Obozo and his elitists.
    I see it happening as we speak.
  • Why are we doing destroying the secondary auto market?
    One key towards getting out of debt is buying used cars, NOT new ones. This program rewards people by shredding used cars and enticing people to get into debt with a new car. This is STUPID on so many levels. What happened to reuse/recycle? How is destroying something that might have been "Made in the USA" instead of selling to some kid headed to college a good thing? Ridiculous!
  • @Pete
    Could you imagine the kick if there were a tax holiday on EVERYTHING? Funny how the government thinks that more taxation is the answer, when it's the exact opposite that is the answer.
    They will never understand that you cannot tax a society into prosperity. It only spreads the misery.
  • Cash for clunkers
    Need to read todays WSJ. Article from president of Edmunds. There has been a drop of purchases in the last several months "in anticipation" of the "free downpayment" from CFC. The replacement of these cars would occur naturally, but the inducement for the government teat is too hard to pass up, shades of FDR & WPA vote buying.
  • C for C Lunacy
    So lemme get this straight: Eleven years ago I paid cash for a vehicle that gets 22 mpg. That's my NEWEST vehicle. And my older vehicle (a 17 year old rusty Honda) gets 35 mpg - when it's running. It isn't eligible either.

    Now I'm in the market for a replacement. Can I afford to pay cash? No (and I'm not interested in a loan), but maybe I can get the price down to a more manageable amount by using C for C.

    Oops! My vehicles aren’t eligible! But I'm certainly paying INTO the system aren't I?!

    So I was initially responsible and energy conscious and paid more for higher quality and higher mileage vehicles. Now I’m paying more again to supplement someone else’s purchase of their vehicles. And then I have to pay again to buy my replacement vehicles.

    Sounds like change to me – oops; nope… that was the change in my pocket, but the government just took it.
  • another Federal gov screwup
    The "Cash for Clunkers" program is not the first example of government stupidity in action. In 2006 the "Wonderful World of Medicare Part-D" drug plan was unveiled without the proper planning to carry out the program. Plan sponsors computers were shut down, patients plans were simply lost in computers, eligibility for patients was discontinued without any reason. Ask any pharmacist and he/she will tell you 2006 was the worst year of their life. I personally lost $40,000 in my business and had to borrow money to stay in business. Meanwhile the big drug companies and insurance guys made out like bandits. And now President B-HO (yes, Barack Hussein Obama) wants more of the same for the entire health care industry. God save us.
  • Collected "Clunkers"...
    From my understanding, the "clunkers" collected by the car dealers are supposed to be junked and sent to the crusher. But some of them might be still worth several thousand dollars each. Does anyone else believe that some of the more "enterprising" (lets call it) dealers might end up reselling some of these things?
  • Clunkers
    How many of these cars will end up being repossessed. Most of the people were probably driving clunkers because they couldn't afford the car payment to start with. When their car is repossessed will there be any cheap used cars since the clunkers will be history? Maybe the gov will give them a free used car.
  • Furthermore
    When I was growing up, a clunker was some old peice of crap you could buy for 100 bucks ('cause that's all you had to spend) that still got you from point a to point b. Not aymore. I drive a 10 y/o pontiac G/P that meets the 'clunker' profile. 76k miles. All power. Paid for. Yeah it's got some minor electrical glitches but other than that there's not a damned thing wrong with it. Not even a spot of rust. So, I trade it in. Where does it go? Does it get crushed and shredded? Shipped off to some third world country? What?
    No thanks. I'll keep and drive the old jalopy / 'clunker' until the wheels fall off.....or something better comes along.
  • Hard to stop
    Germany started this program and is finding it very difficult to stop.

    Was it FDR that destroyed a million acres of crops to prop up the prices while millions of people were standing in food lines hungry?

    These so-called clunkers are the life line of newly graduated teenagers, people struggling to get to a job without transportation, heck I've had to buy a clunker or two in my day! And we are destroying these vehicles? Sending the engines to CHINA???? Just so them can melt them down, make into something else and resell back to us.

    Maybe that was part of the agreement when we borrowed all that money from them.
  • Cash out the door
    Don't you just love it when you see the clown in the Kia with the Obama bumper sticker. Yea he's going to bring jobs for American workers. I am to the point where I now lay on the horn and give them the middle finger salute.
  • Is anyone surprised?
    This program will end up costing the tax payers even more money because of the loss of the used cars being destroyed. Also the run off that the spare parts industry would have gained from this will be lost because these cars will not be allowed to be parted out, only destroyed. Also, destroying these cars causes much, much, much more pollution than they would if they were just running on some highway or sitting in a drive way. Also, the savings that an individual gains from a keeping a used car that is paid for is phenomenal, New cars lose 10% of their value the minute they are driven off of the lot. This is a perfect demonstration of how Government programs are run, illogically and without forethought.
  • Bad program...
    What many people do not realize, is that this legislation rewards bad behavior. I have been driving a car that gets over 50 mpg since 1991, I could use a little trade in help since it now has 450,000 miles on it, but no, the idiots who bought gas guzzlers since then get the rewards.
  • Yeth Thir, Mr. Snarkybird ...
    The public is clamoring for YOU to fork over four thousand five hundred of YOUR hard earned dollars to pay for their new ride. WAH-flipping-HOO. Dig DEEP, Mr. Snarkybird. I'm tap city and cannot help you.
  • stimulus
    Another example of government doing it wrong the first time. When the Cas for clunkers program ends,what will happen to auto sales. They have just given incentive for the people already needing another vehicle to buy. The resulting drop in sales volume at the end of the program will show up and create more down times for the auto industry. Car salesmen you better bank your commissions while the selling is good.
  • I said it here first!
    The cash for clunkers program will become a new entitlement program! This program won't be temporary!
  • Paying Attention
    And this is the same bunch of idiots the Obama voters want running our health care system.
    I feel we are doomed.
  • clunkers
    Saw on FOX news,that if you participate in this boondoggle,you expressly give away your right to privacy in your own home,including internet,and phone conversations.Its hidden in the mice type.More of govt.control over your life!
  • Paying Attention
    And this is the same bunch of idiots that the Obama voters want running our health care system.
    I feel we are doomed.
  • Cash For Clunkers
    And this is the same bunch of morons that the Obama voters want to run our health care system.
    I feel we're doomed.
  • Cash for Clunkers was doomed from the start
    because it is another program that requires government to have more bureaucracy. The government could of done so much better by putting in a temprary tax holiday on automobiles. Of course this wouldn't accomplish the democrat party's agenda.
  • You Are Too Stupid To Want Obamacare
    Oh...did you hear Andrea Mitchell telling us that if we don't want Obama's government healthcare, we're basically just stupid?

    http://www.breitbart.tv/andrea-mitchell-on-resistance-to-obamacare-people-may-not-know-whats-good-for-them/
  • cash for clunkers
    Where the hell does the government get off taking money from somebody that earned it and give it to somebody that didnt so they can get a Kia?

    If we are not careful, you are going to hear "A vote for the other guy will mean that you have to buy your own car".
  • LOL
    yes, govt creates program to stimulate car sales and get rid of old cars. Program is so wildly popular it's out of funds in a week and people are clamoring to keep it going.

    This is a case where the govt underestimated demand but, make no mistake, demand is still there and while dealers may complain about the issues they have dealing with the rules for the program, they still want to keep it going. They want more. they are demanding more. the are extremely anxious for the govt to continue the program.

    yes, epic failure. good point.
  • Unintended Consequences and healthcare
    Scary stuff. This was a stupid, short-sighted program to begin with. How long after the new socialized healthcare is adopted before we have a Cash For Clunkers program initiated to get rid of the more "expensive to maintain" patients? Medicine for Seniors, perhaps. Or X-rays for Morbidly Obese. In other words, trade in one of these undesirables and you will get the medicine or treatment you need for your condition. Silly, I know. But things that I thought were silly just a few months ago have now actually come to pass, so I'm no longer laughing.
  • Govt Healthcare
    Part of the House's health bill is going to require old people to go to "End Of Life Counseling". Pelosi will probably call it "Cash For Clunkers II"
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