Here's a Tweet I made that became a Facebook discussion. Enjoy.

Me

1,000,000,000/4500 = 222,222.23ish.. Therefore over 222,222 cars were bought and over the same amount are to be crushed?

Friend #1

this is the worst idea i've ever heard.

Me

What idea? it was already done. They're about to pump 2 billion more into it. Overall fuel economy goes up and a dead automotive industry gets business.

Friend #2

oh yeah and the wonderful thing is...My bf's car which is a REAL clunker probably wouldn't even qualify! The damn thing is falling apart (literally) but it probably gets over 18 to the gal. so yeah. BRIGHT IDEAS FROM THE GOVERNMENT.

Friend #1

here's my problem with it... when they made the stimulus package to pay house notes for people who had fallen behind on their mortgage it ended up that something like 85% of those people were foreclosed on anyway because even though the government picked up the tab on a few months they still didn't have the income to support the monthly bill in the... Read More long runl. why will this be any different? if i'm making $300 a week and barely able to feed myself and pay rent every month then what makes the government think that paying my down payment for a new car will make me able to afford the monthly payment? i promise you 6 months to a year from now we'll be seeing the fallout from this when all these new cars are being repossessed by the thousands. i'd rather have a "clunker" that's mine than drive a nice car for a while then have it taken away and be left with nothing.

Me

Bitching about one government program to put down another is baseless, and whining about how you're not covered by it therefore it sucks is just as retarded.

Friend #1

it's not baseless, it's establishing a pattern. socialism has never worked. what's baseless is thinking that it will now just because it has a more eloquent spokesperson.

Friend #2

i'm not bitching. I'm just saying that it's a pointless to call it cash for clunkers (on top of the program being dumb all in itself). That's misleading. Because there are going to be the people who have shitty cars (like my boyfriends) who would be able to afford a car with the extra money from the program only to get turned out because it's not... Read More really a "clunker" on their terms. It's like a retail store doing a sale but printing out a misleading ad for it... Only the government is controlling it.

and i think your an ass. :P

Me

"socialism has never worked." Scandinavia would like to have a word with you. Also, America would never be able to become a full on socialist state. Nor would it ever be completely capitalistic. The whole point of forming a government is so we do not have to rely on private enterprise for everything and to give the people an outlet to change the course of things. Obama was elected, deal with it. Take some solace that he's center left and not full liberal.

"Cash for Clunkers" is a term coined by the media not the government the program is called the Car Allowance Rebate System. It's to stimulate spending while increasing fuel efficiency of the overall US fleet. Sucks that your BF's POS car does not qualify, but it's geared to get SUV's off the road not a broke down Camry or Sentra, ect.

Over 200,000 cars sold in one WEEK will do more for the economy than any of the other programs of the recovery bill. I'm glad at least one part of the stimulus is obviously working.

Friend #1

time will be the tell, guy. if the people can pay for these cars and keep them, then the program was a success. if more of them end up being repossessed than not, then it was a failure. other than that i have nothing else to say.

Me

Actually, that's more a problem of the credit industry, but they are being very tight-assed on credit right now. Of course high unemployment complicates this all. But I don't think inaction is a solution. "No questions asked" blank checks to banks is not action BTW.

Friend #1

how 'bout we close the fed?

Me

No, not enough of a case against them, yet. Credit rating agencies are the ones to blame for this recession. Collusion among industry leaders is another huge problem.

I'm for re-regulation (make new regulations while getting rid of the old regulation), not deregulation or more regulation. However none of the major parties (including Libertarians) are not voicing this opinion to my knowledge.

I wish the problems with our government could be summed up to "those damn liberals" or "those stupid fucking republicans" or even "it's the two party system, man!" The problems lie with the voters, the system in place, popular option, the media, big business, and of course the special interest groups. All side are against the people (especially the people themselves).

This is pretty much raw, so don't expect much in the way of proofreading. If anyone has anything to add, then feel free to comment.