Cash for clunkers and more

As the politicos toot their own horns about how well this program is working out, let me point out several things you may not have thought about:

• people are putting off purchasing necessary items (i.e. clothes washer, dryer, refrigerator, etc.) because "hey, the GOVERNMENT is giving us money to buy a new car now. The money was yours to begin with -- it is TAX monies collected & now being redistributed to only those foolish enough to rush out to buy a new vehicle. Plus, now you have a car payment!
  
• This is getting 'clunkers' & 'gas guzzlers' off the streets. Not really -- only those whose credit can stand this extra payment are able to take advantage of this. Their car may actually only be from 2002 & have low miles. It would have been a good buy for someone graduating from college & needing to buy a car but not able to afford a 'new car' payment or for a family who truly needed another car but again, cannot afford a 'new car'. So, where does that leave them?
• The program is (shock coming) way behind in processing requests for the 'rebate'. Another government program, staffed by government workers, behind in their work -- who would have ever guessed this would happen? (this is sarcasm!)
• The very same people who 'planned' the 1 BILLION dollars would last 4 months were incredibly wrong....it lasted approximately 4 days. Now they have committed 2 BILLION MORE of your tax dollars to this 'program'. Thus, my next question is this: if they are so damn wrong about something as simply as this program is 'supposed' to be, what kind of massive mess will they make if they get their fingers on our healthcare? The plan already includes gutting Medicare & not only does that scare ME, it should scare every single American when you understand you are TURNING OVER YOUR HEALTH CARE TO THE GOVERNMENT if their plans go through.
• Car dealers, formerly struggling, now have a short-term gain, but what happens to their sales in a year? 2 years? how many people will they be laying off because there is no longer some incentive from the government to buy a new car? I imagine your wait to have repairs will become longer because of them employing fewer people. Plus, the laid off workers will file for unemployment & public aid, etc. So where is the gain?
• These types of 'saving the people from themselves' programs were started back during the Great Depression. They did NOT work then, will NOT work now. It is time to leave people alone & let the economy recover without any more government intervention. In fact, history has shown that what was done in the name of 'government help' during the Great Depression actually LENGTHENED the Depression. The point of history is to LEARN from our mistakes. Obviously, we are not going in the right direction.
• Any time the economy takes a 'downturn', there will be pain felt by someone somewhere; we need to go through that pain to come out the other side stronger & more resilient. Having a 'nanny state' will not only NOT take away the pain of the 'downturn', it WILL prolong it. I don't know about you, but I am not in the mood for extending financial pain by government intervention.

People are more resilient than the politicos are giving us credit for & THAT is a complete insult. bho, facing ordinary people, trying to explain a 'government healthcare insurance plan' that even HE does NOT understand, was facing those who actually laughed as he tried desperately to 'soothe the waters'.

WE, THE PEOPLE, ARE NOT STUPID.

Lots of people were fooled. Lots of people fell for the 'hopey, changey' thing bho promised & promoted. He, of course, lied through his teeth. I am surprised lightening did not strike him somewhere along the campaign trail. But, he said what people WANTED to hear: Xanadu was waiting just over the hill if only he were elected. He has blamed everything he does wrong on the former president, taken credit for things the former president actually DID put in place, & screwed up the rest with his meddling in banks & car companies.

He was elected. Now we see that he & his party want control of not only banks & car companies, now it's insurance companies & healthcare. In fact, what will be left if they get their hands into ALL the free markets? The man has already said that we are no longer a Christian nation. So, what are we? He seems to have stopped short of explaining that one.

• It is TIME.
• Call your representatives.
• Repeatedly.
• Make it a daily ritual.
• Object to the takeover, IN ANY FORM, of the nation's healthcare.
• Adamantly object to them voting ANOTHER bailout. It is not #2, it would be #3 - Bush signed off on the first one if you remember.
• Register & vote the representatives/congressmen/senators OUT.
• Vote for anyone besides the entrenched party/politico.
• Go to TEA parties. It stands for Taxed Enough Already, in case you haven't heard.
• Volunteer to help your local TEA Party. Don't have one? Then start one.
• Above all, remember everything in our nation USED to be based on WE, THE PEOPLE.

You can help return to this precept. Tell your reps how you feel & let them know that they are being watched. Voting in regular elections is NOT optional.

And, if all else fails, remember that we DO have the ability to RECALL a rep who does not represent us.

Tea Party and...

Months ago, I wrote to my local paper to ask each & every voter to please do their research, think out their options, & last but definitely not least, VOTE. Many people voted in the national elections in November & now things have certainly rapidly changed. The difference now is: I no longer have hope.

On April 15th I went to a Tea Party here in El Paso, Texas where I am with my father. There were over a thousand people there & what happened was contrary to every media reporting script with the exception of FOX news. Note: FOX had nothing to do with sponsoring or organizing this event - NO BIG MONEY put this on. Here is my experience for you to decide for yourself if this 'grassroots' movement is real.

Every skin color, size, shape, gender, ethnicity, & age were there. Every political persuasion was well represented: Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Green Party, Independents & apolitical people.

People talked about their vote & many said they had voted for President Obama -- note please, no one attacked them or screamed at them or berated them in any way. The common thread for those of us there was that before this, we all thought we were doing enough by voting, calling/writing our representatives about issues, reading newspaper articles, listening to the news -- all in an effort to stay informed. Now we know we were wrong.

There was no riot. There was no racism. There was no screaming in someone else's face. There was no burning of the flag - in fact, the American flag was displayed & treated with respect. No soldiers, VFW members, Legion members or veterans were spit on or called names. I did, however, see people step up to them & thank them for their service & sacrifice to our country. Tears came to the eyes of the vets, those thanking them & to those of us near enough to witness this. There were gun owners & those opposed to individuals owning guns. There were members of every - & of no - faith.

We burned no cars, tossed no malotov cocktails, screamed no obscenities, threatened no one. We did not shout down the main speaker, a university economics professor. No politicians spoke because it was a time for them to listen to ordinary people, that's IF there were any politicos in the crowd.

The upshot of the entire gathering was this: people are fed up with the government growing at an astronomical rate even as Americans lose their jobs; fed up with politicians saying whatever during a campaign & then doing the exact opposite after elected; fed up with government bailouts; fed up with lobbyists & lawyers running the government; fed up with the spending spree in Washington; fed up with the Constitution & the Bill of Rights being subverted; fed up with losing simple rights & liberties. Last but not least, most feel every Senator & Representative needs to be replaced because they are completely out of touch with the ordinary people of this country. Politicians only listen to their big money backers & not to the voters. Big mistake politicians!

After attending the Tea Party I was energized, hopeful once again for our country. I was encouraged so many hundreds of thousands of ordinary people are getting involved.

And then I came home......