by Greg Somaio

Created on: August 13, 2009

People never cease to amaze me. I've been wondering what was happening to all of those Cash for Clunkers cars that are getting traded in, and now I know. To be honest, it bothers me due to its Orwellian nature. You trade in an otherwise functional car, they drive it out back, drain the oil, fill the engine with sodium silicate (liquid glass), and rev it until the engine seizes. That's like going to the ER because you broke your leg and they take you out back and shoot you!

I almost feel as though I should hide my '94 Crown Vic because some government spook is going to show up at my door with a warrant and a tow truck saying that my car has to go. I'd then be forced to finance a $20,000 sardine can that gets 50 miles to gallon, and if I go over 45mph I'll get a $500 speeding ticket in the mail.

If I'm not mistaken, the Government has already dumped $3 billion into this stupid program. How much good is it doing for the economy? Is it generating new jobs? Probably not. I haven't heard of the car companies opening new plants to be able to keep up with the demand. Possibly because they're selling cars that have been sitting on the lot for almost two years now. By the way, why are imports eligible for this program anyway? Don't you think that only the American car companies (you know, Ford, Chrysler, and GM - the ones that are in trouble) should benefit from this?

Here's something else to think about: Didn't this whole "economic crisis" begin due to the fact that the banks and car companies needed to be bailed out because no-one could afford to pay off their loans? So now, Obama is paying people to go buy cars that they probably wouldn't have been able to get financing for in the first place! That's why they were driving clunkers. They're cheap, people can afford them. They're good enough to get from point A to point B.

Why don't they dump $3 billion into health care? Why don't they invest in education? Three billion dollars would go a long way if it was put into research and development of more fuel efficient vehicles. How many wind farms can be built with $3 billion? A 200 megawatt farm would cost roughly $300 million to build. It would power 80,000 homes. Three billion could possibly power 800,000 homes!

Can you imagine paying only a maintenance fee for your electricity each month? Picture it - government-produced, clean, renewable and sustainable electricity for a fraction of what your monthly bill is right now. Not to mention the jobs it would generate. And then, you would have been able to afford to go out and buy that new hybrid or better yet, an electric vehicle, which doesn't use any fuel. Someone else would have had a chance at buying a decent used car. Mechanics would have had plenty of work, not to mention the companies that manufacture replacement parts for all the old cars being repaired by the mechanics.

Anyway, enjoy your new car. Futhermore, enjoy paying $400 a month between insurance and car payment. Please pay it on time so you don't break the banks again.

Learn more about this author, Greg Somaio.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.