Have you heard of this concept, Cash for Clunkers?Another brilliant idea by warped congressional thinking. Here's the jist, borrowing the idea from Germany, the federal government is considering a plan to pay you to send your old car to the scrap yard so that you can go buy a new car and stimulate the economy.
But doesn't this just continue to propagate an already false economy based on living beyond our means? How many people driving around old clunkers SHOULD be buying a new car? How many of these clunkers have actually lived beyond their usefulness? I have a 96 Mazda that just turned 100,000 miles. She still has several years left in her and frankly, while I could replace her, it just doesn't seem like a logical thing to do-either economically or considering its remaining life. But yet, it would qualify.......and you, the taxpayer, would flip the bill by paying me money to unload it.
Conservatives think this is great because they're all about people spending money regardless if they have it or not (which bucks the idea of being a conservative if you ask me). Liberals think this is great because newer cars are better for the environment. Oh yeah, today's vehicles are SO MUCH better for the environment. Hello? Have they not been arguing the opposite all these years?
I believe some cars should be taken off the road, but I don't know that my tax dollars should be the lure. Why is it that solving our way out of this mess is to create more unnecessary spending by both the government and private individuals? You would think that critical thinking would prevail and DC would understand that this kind of fake wealth created our depression. Or do I expect too much as a Hoosier?
3 comments:
hey...the mazda is a 97...come on!! and i'm so glad to hear you claim it as yours!!!! i love that car:)
Well I have had the pleasure of riding in the mazda. It is in good repair and is not a clunker. You live in a household similar to mine where the wife gets to drive the newer and nicer vehicle. Now honestly, in much of Western Europe buying a car is perhaps a once in a lifetime event maybe twice. Regulations are stringent on the care and maintenance and you rarely even see a clunker! The Clunker exchange is for cars produced first by US based firms in the States and then at a reduced deal for cars produced simply in North America. The plan stimulates some spending, employees some Americans, and the residual benefit is that we perhaps get some gas guzzling smokers off the road. It seems one heck of a lot more acceptable than giving AIG bailout money!
I keep waiting for my bail out money, but I think its only headed one way...out of my pocket.
I accidentally referred to the Mazda as "my car". It is, in fact, my wife's car from college. She also has a new car. I have no car......or truck, more importantly, for which to get around.
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