Yeah, it was only driven by a little old lady on Sundays

The recent government sponsored "Clunkers for Cash" program has made me curious. One Billion taxpayer dollars has been allotted through November 1st to stimulate new car sales, help struggling auto dealers, and get more fuel efficient cars on the road. On the surface, that whole idea sounds like a good one. Now, one week later, the program is out of cash. Supporters say this is proof the program has been wildly successful ( I guess you can't argue with that). Detractors are saying this is a example of government bungling (I am not sure you can argue with that, either). Now, the House has authorized another Two Billion dollars to keep the program going and sent it to the Senate for their approval. UPDATE: The Senate has approved the Two Billion as well and sent the bill to the President to sign.

My problem with the whole thing is this: Why am I, as a taxpayer, being asked to help pay for someone else's automobile purchase? Haven't we stimulated sales, helped struggling auto dealers, and gotten more fuel efficient cars on the road after one week's time? We've met the goal; game over, move on. Also, this initiative is laboring under the green mantra to help our environment and reduce our carbon footprint. Under the terms of the program, all of the trades are to be made inoperable and not put back on the road. What about the re-usable parts in all of these cars? Does it make sense to destroy these cars and not strip them of re-usable parts? Aren't the businesses in the parts supply chain also suffering because of the lack of auto sales? What happened to reduce, reuse, recycle?

To me, this whole program seems to target one industry that employs a bloc of reliable voters located in a strategic region of the country that is key to winning Presidential elections. Wrap it together as an initiative to help both the economy and the environment and you have a feel-good program. Just don't worry about the cost, though. A billion here. A billion there. I guess this wasn't the "green" they were talking about.