[Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) aka Cash for Clunkers was a dumb idea to begin with. Now the bozos in DC are talking about adding to it. I say how about some rewards for those folks who were smart enough to buy a car that gets good mileage and maybe a dope-slap for those who were dumb enough to buy, say, a Hummer. I have been driving a car that gets better than 26 mpg for 14 years. I could use a little help buying a new car that gets even better mileage. Instead, I get to help a gas-waster get a slightly less wasteful new car. The program should only apply to new cars that get 35 mpg or better and it should apply to all comers who have been driving the old vehicle for 3 years or more. Or even better, just forget the whole Cash-for- Clunkers-subsidies-for-the-thinking-impaired idea altogether.]
I had set the above post to publish 4 hours from now. The news on the way home implied there was some sort of crash program to make more Cash-for-Clunkers. I guess I underestimated the ability of the current House to pick my (and your) pocket. Zippered pockets is my fashion prediction. You are going to need them.
I’m willing to donate a little of my hard-earned PetSmart dollars in order to give people the little extra shove they need to get rid of their stupid, gas-wasting, polluting vehicles.
The way I see it is, idiots are a constant. But things like the environment and the political situation in the Middle East are very much variable, and both appear to be currently headed South faster than a retiree in October. If, because of my tax dollars, five soccer moms decide to trade in their Suburbans for Camrys, I think it’s money well spent.
I do agree with you that it might be beneficial to raise the MPG limit on the rebate. But I guess some is better than none at all.