Today's "US Government Making It Rain With Your Tax Dollars" Moment

Remember the "Cash for Clunkers" program? You know, the one that took all of the car sales from the next 6 months and combined them into one to give a false boost to the economy? That one. The one where you could trade everything from an '84 Cutty to a Daewoo Lanos (more on the Lanos in a sec) in for a -gasp!- brand spanking new Kia or Scion or maybe even a CRV. I have no problems with Kia's, Scion's, or CRV's except when it costs the taxpayers $2,000 for every single car sold under the program. Now, break that down further and you'll see that the taxpayers paid an inordinately high percentage of the total price of the car due to the relatively low cost of the most popular cars sold under the program.

According to the University Of Delaware study that provided this information, this program has also led to an across the board decline in car donations as well as revenue from car repairs and maintence providing companies. Why? Simply because 700,000+ used cars were taken off the road in favor of vehicles that will become clunkers themselves in just a few short years. Of those 700,000+ cars, there is a percentage of cars that were perfectly fine, but got 15 mpg, or were outright destroyed by auto dealers in an attempt to cash in on Obama's program. Anyway, as for the Daewoo Lanos, enjoy: