The Smoke Break

You want some brie with that whine?

Keeping The Machine Oiled

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So, you ready to trade in your clunker.  The federal government’s program gives you money – tax free – when you sign on the dotted line.  Because it is your money, after all.

Car dealers also get money on your deal from the federal government (to lower the price of the new vehicle) but they have to pay taxes on it as part of their business’ income (probably will be considered part of the customer’s cash down payment).

Wouldn’t it have made more sense and everyone’s life easier if the feds had just lowered the amount given to the car dealers and left it at that?  Isn’t that money – given to the government by paying business taxes – their money, after all?

Why do we have to spend the time and resources to amend the already labrynthian tax code for one little “stimulation”?

Oh, wait.

Federal job security.

Pater Obama Is Watching You

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If the following makes you feel like you’ve just entered the Twilight Zone, welcome to the Obamanation.

Folks who are interested applying to the “Cash for Clunkers” program are directed to a federal government website, cars.gov.  If they want to participate, their dealer fills out an application and, in order to submit it, has to go through the usual agreement to the site’s terms and conditions.  Or are they really the usual “terms and conditions”?

When it involves the Obama administration, the sad truth is that it’s a scam designed to take something away from you.  In this case, when you’re a car dealer, it’s your privacy.

The dealer user agreement reads, in part:

“This application provides access to the DoT CARS system.  When logged on to the CARS system, your computer is considered a Federal computer system and is the property of the U.S. Government.

Any or all uses of this system and all files on this system may be intercepted, monitored, recorded, copied, audited, inspected, and disclosed to authorized CARS, DoT, and law enforcement personnel, as well as authorized officials of other agencies, both domestic and foreign.”

What this means is that EVERYTHING on that computer immediately becomes fair game to the Feds.  Including customer information.  And leaving the website won’t stop them.  Through the use of what is commonly known as “malware” (malicious software programs deliberately placed on a computer, normally to steal information) and those inevitable tracking cookies, the government can continue to monitor all activities until their code is found and wiped off your system.

‘Tis truly a nasty way to gather information about American citizens, but unfortunately, it’s legal. 

Thanks to Glenn Beck for exposing this.

It’s A Clunker, All Right

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“Cash For Clunkers”, the Obaminable little project to encourage folks (whose number include more and more unemployed every day so a fine target market…what?) to replace their “clunker” (read:  gas-guzzler) with a spiffy, new “green” vehicle, kicked off last Friday.

It’s just been reported the program is being ended. 

Tonight.

At midnight.

Through late Wednesday, 22,782 vehicles had been purchased through the program and nearly $96 million had been spent. But dealers raised concerns about large backlogs in the processing of the deals in the government system, prompting the suspension.

A survey of 2,000 dealers by the National Automobile Dealers Association found about 25,000 deals had not yet been approved by NHTSA, or nearly 13 trades per store. It raised concerns that with about 23,000 dealers taking part in the program, auto dealers may already have surpassed the 250,000 vehicle sales funded by the $1 billion program.

The government failed to fully understand the potential financial ramifications of this knee-jerk program.  They also seem to be having problems handling it on their end.  Now they’re rushing through “health care reform”.

You really think that could possibly work any better?