June 11, 2009
Enough to Make You Doubt Socialism!
Screw the cats -- here's your ThreeSources humor for the day.
Senators Feinstein and Collins are shocked, shocked! that a little plan for government meddling went astray. It was a great idea mind you, they cooked it up with the help of Sen. Schumer:
It's amazing how quickly a good idea can go bad in Washington. In January, we joined with Sen. Charles Schumer to introduce a bill that would allow Americans to trade in gas-guzzling cars in exchange for vouchers worth up to $4,500 toward the purchase of vehicles with greatly improved fuel economy. This legislation was modeled after programs in California and Texas that improved fuel efficiency, reduced pollution, and stimulated auto sales.
But then some of those evil lobbyists -- who still are so misguided as to think they have a right to petition the government when it writes rules for their industry -- stepped in and messed it all up.
Our "Cash for Clunkers" proposal was a win-win for the environment and the economy. Then Detroit auto industry lobbyists got involved. Soon a rival bill emerged in the House, tailored perfectly to the auto industry's specifications.The House bill was written so quickly that one of its main components -- a provision that would have excluded any vehicle manufactured overseas -- had to be removed because it violated trade laws. But the worst item on the auto industry's wish list is still at the heart of the bill -- a provision that undermines fuel-efficiency standards.
On Tuesday, the House approved this legislation, which would subsidize the purchase of a new Hummer H3T (16 mpg) or a new Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 truck (15 mpg), but not a two-year-old Ford Focus (27 mpg) or used Chevy Colorado (20 mpg). A companion bill is pending in the Senate.
I dare you to read this with a straight face as it only gets worse. It never strikes these two leading intellectual lights of the Senate that maybe the problem is government intrusion.
Un. Bee Leave. Able.
Philosophy Posted by John Kranz at June 11, 2009 12:36 PM
"a win-win for the environment and the economy."
No, it's for environmentalist wackos and the auto industry, which are subsets of the larger groups.
Not mentioned is the third party to the proceedings: the taxpayer. Actually, they'd be fourth. The third party is the neighbor who trades in his car at the taxpaying neighbor's expense.
It's "win-win" in the same way a wolf and a fox both "win" after raiding the chicken coop. Or win-win-win if you include the vulture that scavenges what's left. It's easy to brag about the winners when you omit any mention of losers.
Posted by: Perry Eidelbus at June 11, 2009 4:07 PMPerry: love the fox and wolf "win-win" line -- well done.
Also some serious Bastiat action as a country is paying to put functioning, serviceable motorcars into a shredder. That's the ticket to prosperity! "See we'll make money fixing all these windows..."
Posted by: jk at June 11, 2009 7:05 PMBecause anyone who can afford to drop $60 grand on a vehicle that serves no other purpose other than a drivable phallic symbol will clearly be convinced to trade in their manhood for a dinky little Prius after being enticed by Susan and Dianne's luscious offer.
Laugh out loud stupid.
Posted by: Lisa M at June 11, 2009 7:22 PMOn the thought of broken windows, how about we sentence state-worshippers to death so that we can create thousands of jobs for death row guards and executioners.
Posted by: Perry Eidelbus at June 12, 2009 1:53 PM | What do you think? [4]