cannedjam

The clunker for cash program is one of the most insanely insincere and asinine government incentives I have ever heard of, and is quite indicative of the logic subscribed to by the Obama administration, and an example of the willingness of the left to have the wool pulled over their eyes.

Under the program, people who trade in their old “clunkers” get a $3500 to $4500 cash incentive to purchase a brand new car. The catch is the new car must get four miles per gallon more than the “clunker”; saving the planet one trade-in at a time. The only problem is, in order to qualify for the program the dealers who accept the trade-ins must render the engines permanently disabled, utterly destroying the value of the scrapped car.

What this does is make the car’s value so low that most scrap yards have little incentive to take in the disabled autos. See, most wreckers make their money by refurbishing the engines and selling them on the used market, you know the “reuse” part of that whole recycling motto. Since the amount of energy it takes to reclaim the metal from a working engine, melt it down only to turn it back into another working engine, is significantly greater than say just keeping the engine working in the first place, this program does little to reduce net energy usage (it would seem quite obvious to me that the most efficient way to recycle a car would be to just keep it a working car in the first place). What it also fails to do is make it affordable for low income people to purchase working used automobiles. With a sudden decrease in the supply of used cars and used car parts it makes it incrementally more expensive for poor people (you know Obama’s voters) to repair or replace their existing automobiles. What it also does is spike the output of nasty polluting factories that must now create, from scratch, cars to replace the demand for the cars that if not for the interference of the government were in perfect working order to begin with.

This program also directly competes with charities who accept used working cars to either sell to the used market or donate to needy families. So here we have a plan that does little if nothing to reduce net energy usage, takes money directly out of the pockets of charity organizations, makes it harder for low income people to maintain or replace their current cars, and renders thousands of otherwise working cars completely useless. Oh wait! What it does help to do is to re-inflate that car buying bubble (you know the kind of bubble that when it bursts causes the federal government to make billions of dollars in loans that will never be repaid) by encouraging people with “clunkers” (hmm who most likely owns clunkers?) to go into debt to finance a brand spanking new shiny car. Seems to me this program was primarily designed to increase output for the car companies while conveniently destroying their competition (the surplus they unwisely created themselves), all bankrolled by the people whom it eventually screws over, under the guise of saving the planet. With legislation like this, if the government was smart they would get into the car manufacturing business themselves. Oh wait second!

JAM Economics, Politics Cash for clunkers, Obama

It’s the goal of every business, grow and make a profit. However, congress has made it clear that becoming too big and too successful and pursuing profit making activities is anti-American, and they won’t let it happen on their watch.

First it was the oil companies and their evil plot to turn a profit. How dare they make money by selling their oil when so many Americans are struggling to afford it. Then it was the banks. How dare they charge interest on loans and assess risk in assigning costs, how dare they protect their bottom line and make it more difficult for people to “buy” a home when they can’t afford one. Now its the insurance companies. How dare they not give away free health coverage, and how dare they not accept people who are uninsurable. How dare they make a profit while people are getting sick, while people are dying. How dare they.

The insurance companies make billions of dollars, surely they can afford to hand out health care to those who need it. What, you have cancer and it will cost $100,000 a year to keep you alive? Sure come on board, just pay us the same $20 a week all these healthy people are paying, makes perfect sense to us. What, you don’t have insurance but were just hit by a bus? Sure, sign right here, you sound like a good investment, just give us a $15 dollar co-pay. Smoke? 200 lbs over weight? Drink like a fish? We’re just giving health care away - we have no obligation to our existing customers to keep costs down, we have no obligation to remain fiscally responsible, don’t worry about it we make billions of dollars.

If congress and the president get their way that’s the business model the industry will be forced to adopt.

Nancy Pelosi says the industry as it stands is evil because they make a profit, “they take advantage of the sick” and shame on them for fighting the legislation that would result in their certain demise. Shame on the insurance companies for protecting their business, protecting their share holders and protecting their existing customers.

Here’s a little story. 100 years ago a man started a business, put everything on the line and risked everything to get it off the ground. He made loans, and helped farmers buy equipment. He was successful so he branched out to insuring property. After a while he became so successful he started hiring sales agents, employed families and provided a good living to his employees. When things started going really well he branched out to multiple locations. When the automobile industry picked up he started insuring drivers, and when the medical industry emerged from its infancy he branched out again. He treated his customers well and they were happy to pay in exchange for the security he provided. He signed up more and more people, and thanks to the insurance model, he made it possible for thousands of people to get access to life saving medicine that they would otherwise not be able to afford. His company was a godsend.

His company grew and grew and some years later it was bringing in millions in profit, and providing thousands of people the security of insurance. More and more people had signed up until everyone who could afford it was covered by his company. But wait, there were still people who did not have insurance. Oh no! They could not afford it. Sure the health care they could afford was better and more advanced thanks to the money his insurance company had injected into the industry over the years, and sure these people were not any more worse off then they were before, when no one had insurance. But it’s not fair now, because some people can afford health insurance and some people can’t. It’s not fair! Who should we blame? We need to blame someone! Hmm… well I guess it’s not the fault of those who can afford insurance, they are hard working Americans, and surely it can’t be the fault of those who cant afford insurance, they are poor and just can’t help themselves. Hmmm….? I know! I know! It’s the fault of the insurance company! Yeah that’s right. They make a lot of money in profits, it wouldn’t be too much to ask for them to not make a profit in exchange for providing free health care to all those who can’t afford it. It’s the insurance company’s fault that not everyone has insurance, clearly they have the ability now to just pay for everyone.

His insurance company has become too big. Now that almost everyone has insurance they take it for granted that if not for his risks and his business everyone would be far worse off. But since his product has become so successful people can’t imagine living without it, they feel it is now theirs, it is their right to have it, the company has no right to take it away. The people depend on his product, those who don’t have it deserve it, those who can’t afford it deserve to have it paid for them. We can’t live without it. Let’s make it illegal for his company to deny anyone, lets make it illegal for him to not give it away for free. For the good of the people, lets squeeze this evil company, heck lets just take it over!

JAM Economics, Politics Health Care

The way the arrest of Harvard professor Gates has been described in the media has really bothered me. Not because I am particularly concerned with race relations or that I particularly care about the parties involved in the incident, but because I care about the truth, hypocrisy, and common sense, and clearly most news outlets don’t.

If you read the police report you come away with a clear understanding of what happened. A woman witnessed two men forcefully entering a home by prying open the front door, she did what any good neighbor would do and called the police to report the possible break in. She gave an accurate description of the men as to allow the police to identify the suspects upon arriving at the scene.

And as Sgt. Crowley arrived at the scene, he had to asses the situation, the only information he had was that which was provided to him by the caller and the fact that something was suspicious enough to prompt someone calling the police. He approached the front door of the house, saw a broken lock (confirming the validity of the 911 caller) and observed a man matching the description of the suspect in the residence.

At this point he has a few options. A) He can assume the man inside the house is the owner, ignore the suspicious scene, end his investigation and walk away without determining the facts. B) After determining the man inside the house is black, he can fear stoking racial flames, be afraid to complete his duties at the risk of appearing “racist”, not dare question the man inside because that man is black and if he is in fact the owner he would presumably explode into a racial tirade and escalate the situation to point of a public disturbance. So in the interest of peace, just turn around go back to his police car and leave. C) Do his job, enter the house on the reasonable suspicion a crime has been committed, question the occupants and determine their identities and purpose for being in the house.

Obviously, Sgt. Crowley “stupidly” chose the absurd option of doing his job. And while in the act of doing his job, professor Gates attempted to interfere with his investigation, verbally assaulted the officer, acted in contrast with the civilities established by various explicit and implicit rules of society, refused the reasonable requests made by the officer, and otherwise acted like a large man-baby with a completely external locus of control.

After numerous warnings to the professor that he was rapidly crossing the line of acceptability in handling the situation, Sgt. Crowley placed him under arrest for disorderly conduct in disturbing the peace.

If I as a white man, acted in a similar manner, I would expect to have found myself in similar straits. There is absolutely no evidence the police acted inappropriately, no indication whatsoever they were racially motivated, or “racially profiled” the professor. The only person with race on his mind was professor Gates, a man who has dedicated his life to the subject.

As soon as the police approached him, like a light switch, he turned to victim mode, cried foul, played the race card, failed to accept a reasonable explanation as to why the police where in his house, and otherwise had a breakdown of common sense, proper judgement, and the decorum expected from a prominent member of the community.

In fact, if I was breaking into my own house I would be worried that someone may call the cops, and a small part of me would be ready incase that scenario played out. I can only assume that thought never once crossed Gates’ mind, because if he had anticipated the police showing up and had time to contemplate how he would react to them, and this is the course he chose, then something is clearly wrong with the man.

I think people, including Barack Obama, who fault the police by asserting that they acted inappropriately, or with racist intentions, have their heads firmly lodged up their asses, and such a faulty thought process makes me question any conclusions they may come to. But that’s just me.

I guess we must now instruct our police officers to coddle any black people they may come across and immediately placate any black suspects while apologizing to them for doing their jobs. Or maybe we should just teach black people our secret white handshake that we have with the police so they don’t arrest us, if only Gates knew that handshake this all could have been avoided.

JAM Politics Gates, Obama, Race

Is it official yet? Can we now universally agree that Barack Obama is a Socialist?

It’s not enough that our deficit is now equal to about $37,000 per American and rising, if Obama succeeds in seizing the healthcare industry he will bring government spending pretty close to 50% of the GDP. I can’t imagine anyone being able to make the argument that the seizing of such a large portion of domestic productivity is nothing less than socialism.

Surcharges on the “rich”, taxing of private health benefits, mandating coverage, penalizing non-conformity, rationing of resources, centralized control, and a lack of choice; this is the antithesis of America.

We got where we are today by being the alternative to socialism, and yet bit by bit, bill by bill, presidential signature by presidential signature, we are shunning our successes, shuttering our economy, and giving in to fear. We are allowing our “leaders” to weave a social hammock out of a safety net, as we unwittingly herald in the age of dependancy.

This is a huge gamble, and for what? To satisfy the ego of the president. Its time to get vocal, its time to call this for what it is, pure bullshit. Take the time to really reflect on whether this is the path you think America should go down. The abolition of the middle class, the affixing of a permanently dependent class that relies on the teat of the government in exchange for votes, all funded by the so-called “rich”, while senators and congressmen line their pockets off of the system they designed. If you think most politicians are self-serving and corrupt why on earth would you give them this kind of unprecedented control? This bill is the death of the American economy, the death of choice, and will be the death of many Americans who will no longer benefit from the largest and most innovative private healthcare industry in the world.

I can only hope for a backlash, and I think we are starting to see one. As America sobers up from its election hangover, I think many of us are starting to realize we took the fat chick home on November 4th, and it’s time to sneak out the bathroom window.

It’s okay to admit you were wrong, in fact its imperative that many Americans do before it is too late. As Obama’s approval ratings continue to drop, scared senators will feel the heat of a dissatisfied electorate.

Spending is not the answer. Record shattering, inconceivable spending is certainly not the answer.

Let us use California as an example (as silly as that sounds). Past the brink of financial collapse, yesterday California agreed to drastically cut their budget and spending to eventually bring them back in the black without raising taxes. As screwed up as that state is, you watch, in two years time they will be the most financially sound state in America, because out of self preservation, they have woken up to the financial reality of the sustainability (or lack there of) of bloated government spending. And guess what? Californians will learn how to survive without the billions of dollars worth of government programs that just got the axe, and the sun will continue to rise and the moon will continue to follow. Lets hope it doesn’t take the collapse of America for Washington to learn the same lesson.

JAM Economics, Politics Health Care, Obama

JAM Politics Health Care