No More Money to "Cash for Clunkers!"

I heard this morning that Congress is considering two options with regard to the wildly successful CARS program: 1) Let the $1 billion run out and end the program, or 2) add another $2 billion. Please, please, please, do not add any more money to the program. Try something different that might help a different group of people. We got rid of our family friendly Chevy Suburban last summer when the gasoline prices were inching up toward $5.00 per gallon. We leased a 2009 Dodge Journey, and it is delivering on it's claim of 20 m.p.g. average. That part, I like, but the thing that is killing us is that there is no room for my husband and I and our four kids to travel comfortably. We can't even go on a weekend trip because there is absolutely no cargo room. Using a rooftop carrier made sense when I made my trip from Northern Virginia to Indiana, but now that we are living back in Indiana all of our relatives are closer so weekend visits are possible--except the rooftop carrier is so cumbersome and my husband hates it. As a result, we have not traveled anywhere that would require an overnight stay. It was quite a trick to get all of us shoved into the Journey with a picnic basket and a container of cookies for a family reunion this past weekend, bags for overnight stays are not possible!
What I would propose to Congress is to tell the struggling, rather lazy and whiny "big three" automakers is this: "The first one of you to develop a family-sized vehicle that is not a mini-van, that has comfortable seating for seven and that has cargo room for a family of six's gear, AND uses an alternative fuel or is a hybrid, that people can actually afford, get the $2 billion! Go! Go use that good old American ingenuity we used to have. Be creative! Do something great! Do something that is actually going to make a difference! That would be my suggestion. Everything so far has just been throwing money everywhere without any vision, without any inspiration or creativity. Come on Congress, do something that is really useful, and radical, and helpful!

Feeling Uncomfortable

I am neither Republican or Democrat, and I don't really trust any politician. I gritted my teeth through the whole eight years of the Bush administration. I felt a little hopeful when Obama was elected President, but now I am starting to feel a little uncomfortable. Obama promised change and many times change is a good thing, change is needed, but change for change's sake or change made without any forethought is dangerous. I am starting to get a bad feeling about the "cash for clunkers" crap that has been making the rounds. I gave up my Suburban last summer for a car that squishes my family of six every time we want to go somewhere. On several occasions we have been forced to drive two vehicles to accommodate our family, when before, the Suburban was sufficient. Now the health care reform mess is coming down the pike and so far, I don't like what I am hearing. My husband has a great job that has great insurance. We are very blessed, but more and more it sounds like we may have to give it up just so everyone can be insured. Don't get me wrong, I think everyone should be covered by some sort of insurance, but taking away something from people who have worked their butts off trying to earn the best they can for their families seems to be a punitive action. Why punish people who are the salt of the earth? Why rip things away from the very people who are the engines of this country? It makes no sense and frankly, the government sucks at running things, so why would we agree to that sort of thing. Sometimes I just have to sit and scratch my head because the legislators who come up with these ideas didn't just drop down into this country from outer space, so why do they come up with such ridiculous rules they want people to follow? Pushing a health care bill through as quickly as possible and "fixing" it later is the stupidest idea there is. Someone needs to stand up and stop the madness. Slow down, take the time needed to get a good solid plan in place, and then see if THE PEOPLE want it. I swear the people in Washington think American citizens are like sheep that will follow anything they say. Ugh! I don't like feeling uncomfortable!