Surprise! (Not)

Now here is a real surprise - both of Maine's esteemed Senators have decided to back the expansion of the Cash For Clunkers program.

This is not really a political post, per se. It is a post about doing harm to the folks of Maine, and the nation, and doing harm to car buffs who depend on the availability of used car parts.

Think about it - poor people, and young families just starting out cannot afford new cars, so they have no choice but to drive, and keep, "clunkers". The program does not help them at all. At one time or another, most of you experienced that, personally. But as those used cars get taken out of the mix, they become more scarce. And this increases the price of any used cars still available. The poor get screwed - again.

My neighbors son wanted to buy a $1200 used car last week. The seller wanted $4000 because he could get $4500 as a trade-in. Would YOU sell him a car for $1200 if you could get $4500? This stupid bill is pricing the poor right out of transportation.

But that is not all. Clunkers tend to need parts - often. But as the parts cars get crushed, parts become more scarce, and therefore more expensive. The poor, the young, and even YOU will have a harder time finding parts at a reasonable price. The poor get screwed a second time.

But here's the clincher - under the program, some Hummers and SUV's qualify as "green" cars. You can actually trade in a clunker for a Hummer!

Another clincher - the average MPG difference between the clunker being traded and the new vehicle is just 1 MPG. ONE!

Another clincher - although proponents try to say it stimulates the economy, I would ask you to think about that for a moment. Ask yourself how it stimulates the economy by first taking the money out via taxes, then putting it back in as a credit. There is NO net gain - they are only putting back what they took out. They could get just as much stimulus by letting us keep the taxes in the first place. The only difference would be WHO gets to spend it. Frankly, if someone gets to spend my money, I think it should be me, the person who earned it. Under this program, the money is taken from me and given to some other person to buy a new car. Hey, Washington, I could use a new car, too. Let me keep my own money so I can afford it.

So, this bill does not really reduce dependence on foreign oil (the majority of our oil imports come from Mexico and Canada. We get very little from the Arab countries). And it stimulates nothing, except my anger at the government for taking my money to buy some other clown a car.

And now for the REAL clincher, folks - think just for a moment as to where all that money is really going to end up. In the pockets of Big Auto - you know, the same Big Auto we already bailed out at a cost of nearly 20 billion. They get these credits. And more than 50% of the cars being traded for are Asian imports, so 50% of the profits from Cash for Clunkers is going overseas. This program is designed to benefit Big Auto, the UAW and the administration, who is using this to keep all those union votes on the Democratic side of the ballot.

Does the person buying the new car get anything? Yes, he gets a bigger car payment, more debt. Do the poor get anything? Yes, they get screwed - again.

But both of our Senators are going to vote to expand Cash for Clunkers. Once again, they fall for something that looks good on the surface but is really bad. Like children let loose in a candy store, they dive in for the goodies, without even realizing the pain and cost that will come of it when they have to go to the dentist. They do not bother to discover the unintended consequences. I do not think either is intelligent enough to represent us.

But what really ticks me off is that, while the Senators are diving into the candy, you and I are the ones that will have to experience the pain and cost of the dentist.

Of course, if the good people of Maine were to stand up and be counted, and tell our senators not to vote for this travesty, maybe - just maybe - we can salvage just a little bit of what we have been losing lately.

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