"Cash for Clunkers" was a "Clunker"

I, like most of you, was disappointed when the government took money from the taxpayers and gave it to people to trade in their cars. Supposedly, the program was to remove old and inefficient cars from use and boost the economy by increasing car sales. The price tag to the taxpayers was to be $4,500 per clunker. Well, it didn't work out that way. A government program that didn't go the way it was supposed to! Can you believe that?

As Paul Harvey used to say, "Now, here's the rest of the story!" The "Cash for Clunkers" program actually cost the taxpayers $24,000 per car, not the $4,500 that had outraged almost everyone. However, that is only a 600% overrun, better than most government-run programs. Still think the proposed health care program will only cost a trillion per year?

Another big problem with the Clunkers program was that it did not increase auto sales. Sure, sales increased during the month it took to burn three billion dollars of taxpayer money but then sales dropped off dramatically. Auto dealers were already running big incentive programs during the first month introduction of new cars because people were not buying. Our tax dollars were used to shift car buying, not increase it.

Another thing that happened with the clunker program that surprised a lot of people was well-to-do people trading in older cars on new luxury cars. Luxury cars from Europe and Asia, not America!

Finally, a big negative consequence to the Clunker Program is the removal of millions of good used cars from the inventory that poor and disadvantaged people usually buy because they cannot afford new ones. So the final summary of this program is the poor people got screwed and the taxpayers got robbed- the trademark of government run programs...

Stimulus Package Reaching Clarity

Earlier this year the Democratically controlled Congress passed (in a partisan vote) and the President signed a 787 billion dollar "stimulus" bill. Conservatives rightly stated that this bill would have little or no stimulating effect on the US economy. This massive, 1,100-page bill was rushed and passed without being read or studied by either the Congress or the President. It came to light after passage that the radical group ACORN actually wrote and crafted a large part of the bill! Obama stated that if the bill was passed, unemployment would stay below 8%. We now have a reported unemployment rate of 10% and it is still growing. An Obama official this week stated that the stimulus bill has already reached its maximum influence on the economy. It is now reported that only 14% of the authorized money has been spent. So what does all that mean? Are you starting to see a strategy develop?

Almost everything the Obama administration has done so far is to further his radical, left-wing, socialist agenda. Most of the money that has been spent has been to take care of unions and government-sector employees, his political mainstays. The private sector has received nothing, thus the continued rise of unemployment. There are many experts who state that the current unemployment rate is really about 18% if you include the discouraged workers who are no longer seeking employment. Home mortgage foreclosures and bank failures continue to rise while Obama is working on social engineering instead of fixing the economy. One would think that the President is committing political suicide with this strategy but is he?

To me it is obvious what the President and the socialistic followers are doing. They knew two things when they took power in January of 2009: (1) They would be on a "honeymoon" with the American people and the press for 12-18 months which would allow them to carry out an outrageous agenda without much criticism and (2) If the economy was fixed first, there would not be any money left for his socialist agenda or it would be so large the people would not accept it. Obama and his left-wing clan created an 877 billion dollar, political slush fund that will be used in 2010 and 2012 to buy enough votes so the American people will not throw them out of office once they they turn America from a capitalistic nation into a socialistic nation. Their plan is simple: Do social engineering and then redistribute taxpayer money to buy enough votes to stay in power. My friends, your tax dollars are being used to pay for your downfall. This is not complicated so don't make it so.

Rocky's Road for the Public Option

Yesterday, the Senate Finance Committee ran Jay Rockefeller's "public option" amendment to health care reform off the road. I wonder if Rocky now thinks he might be wrong about this issue since a lot of the Democrats and none of the Republicans are for it? I doubt it. In 2008 Rocky, as a "Super Delegate" to the Democratic Convention, came out in support of Obama knowing that 75% of the Democrats in West Virginia were for Hillary Clinton. Before reversing his position, Rocky was once against surface mining in West Virginia even though the majority of the citizens of West Virginia were in favor of it. Now he proposes the public option knowing that 56% of the people in the USA are against it and a higher percentage in West Virginia is against it. Rocky has not been held accountable by the voters of West Virginia in the past for turning his back on the voters and he probably thinks he won't be in the future. How can Rocky continue to "thumb his nose" at the voters of this state? Rocky probably will not run for Senate again (age and back trouble). He is no longer worried about the voters and citizens of West Virginia. Being a liberal elitist who knows what is best for everyone else, he is going to vote his will (or that of his liberal, socialist advisors) and let our children and grandchildren live with the mess. Sadly, Rocky has not taken a position on the "Cap and Trade" Bill (aka "The Kneecap our Trade" and the "Cap and Tax" Bill). This bill will do nothing to improve the environment, will put American business at a competitive disadvantage and will be the largest tax increase in our history. This bill will devestate the mining industry and West Virginia which depends so heavily on it. If you were to go after Disney, everyone in the Florida delegation would be screaming at the top of their lungs. Mining is under attack from the Obama Administration and From Byrd, Rockefeller, Rahall and Mollohan the silence is deafening...

Health Care for Illegal Aliens

Today, liberal Democrats are demanding free health care coverage for illegal aliens! First of all, neither legal or illegal aliens pay taxes in the USA, therefore they deserve nothing from the US taxpayers. The liberals are arguing that we can provide health care coverage cheaper than letting the aliens go to emergency rooms and pay for that. Well here is a novel thought for all my liberal friends: Let's get the illegal aliens out of the country and we don't have to provide health care coverage or emergency room care. Maybe we could make an attempt to keep the illegal aliens from entering the US....

Hello and Welcome

Welcome to my blog. I will be posting comments on current events, persons in the news and other commentary on American life. It is my intent to address these matters from a common sense viewpoint that reflects traditional, conservative values that made America the greatest nation on Earth. I am hopeful that I can in some way stop the erosion of our values and help to maintain our civil society. Let's re-capture true values!