Garbanzo Toons

What's in it for Me?

That's the current mode of thought, isn't it? The government is throwing money around like they have it. Now, it's $4,500.00 to buy a new fuel efficient car if you trade in your old gas guzzler. There's even a catchy title, "Cash for Clunkers." My little gas sipper will be two in November. I dumped my minivan for it. It was either that, or dump around $5,000.00 into repairs on the old rust heap - uh - I mean, clunker. Being the frugal (cheap) guy that I am, I had to figure out what would pay better in the long run. Had I known this was coming, I might have made a different decision.

That government check would have covered over one third of the cost of my bare bones GM. I bought the cheapest one I could find. It's all manual. You even have to roll the windows up and down by hand. I thought the salesman was kidding when he told me that. My kids had never even been in a car that didn't have automatic windows. It was a novelty for days and a story to tell their friends for months.

My father, though, is tickled pink. He's retired, his savings took a big hit like everyone else's but he wants a new car to replace his '98 Buick with over 100,000 miles on it. He's not the only one salivating over this example of government largesse. Isn't that nice of our government, handing out money like that so that people can buy the new cars the government wants them to buy? And who am I to complain? It's not my money their going to be handing out. That's long gone. They're giving my children's and grandchildren's cash.

Is anyone complaining about government turned into Santa Clause, Tooth Fairy, and Easter Bunny all rolled into one? Only those humorless conservatives. They have this weird idea that people should earn their living. Talk about reactionary. Don't they get it? A new day is dawning. All we, the people have to do now, is hold out our hands and say, "gimme." The nice government worker person will oblige our every whim . . . until that person decides that work is strictly for suckers and quits to stand in the handout line with the rest of us progressive thinkers.

So who is going to do the work, when it becomes so much easier to just not work. I'm hearing stories of able-bodied people who have lost their jobs, and as hard as it may be for you to believe, due to extended unemployment benefits, they're not looking for another job. They're tired of working. They know that Obama will provide. The states feel that way. The severely debt-ridden state of Michigan is looking to grab a few billion in stimulus funds. And that will make everything all better and insure that Governor Granholm gets reelected. (I heard that Obama blessed the funds going to blue states so that Democrats will keep their positions.)

Schools are also looking to the feds for more money, and according to Instructor magazine, they're looking for (surprise) "Stimulus" cash. It's not that school districts are being selfish, they just want to save teachers' jobs so that our students can continue to get the world-class education that American public schools have been providing for generations. Of course, from my own experience as a public school teacher, I've seen horrendous amounts of taxpayer money wasted in various ways. But that's another post.

The aim here is to get money from the government now, before that money goes to someone else, and everyone points and laughs at you for being the last doofus on the block actually holding a job.

Labels: Cash for Clunkers, education, Obama, Stimulus package

posted by Harry @ 3:02 PM