1 It's another breaking windows scheme.

2 My favorite phrase in that article is the one right before your quote: "a rounding error in Tim Geithner's nose-hair".

Heh... what better way to describe the personal agendas flying around and dictating demonically whimsical policy?

3 As one of the "estimated 12 percent of Americans aged 15 years and above who don't drive, period" and as one of "the adults who live in the 8 percent of households that don't have a vehicle", you can imagine what I think about my money going to buyers of Detroit-made SUVs.

Why the emphasis on popularity? That's indicative of an externally oriented mindset. A person who constantly wonders what others think and tries to keep up with the latest feelings and beliefs. Fashion is in the mind, but truth is out there.

The last line is a keeper:

... what parties in power always do: look for creative new ways to bribe the middle class.

with 'free' benefits they pay for!

4 Amritas -- You just reminded me of a Karl Rove article I just heard about on Rush about how Obama is changing with the winds of focus groups.

5 Manufacturing a car is an energy-intensive process. Making and transporting steel, forging, foundry, and stamping operations, transportation of components and finished cars--all these things use energy, and a good part of it is thrown away when the car is scrapped.

Did anyone bother to do the calculation of BTUs lost (through scrapping useful vehicles) with BTUs saved (via more efficient new cars)? I'm guessing the answer is "no."

6 and 7 of the 10 top cars purchased are not from American companies... purchases s/h/b restricted to the car companies we already "own"... this whole thing -- including the additional $2 BILLION is making me absolutely over-the-edge cuckoo crazy  (oh, that & bank bailouts, ObamaCare and a host of other "you're frickin' kidding me?!" legislation...

I keep trying to remember to breathe....

7 And yet another angle on how this is SO not a good idea: I listen to WOAI radio out of San Antonio. They had a local news report the other day from someone who helps local charities that accept donated vehicles as a means of fundraising. Donations are down, depending on the charity, 40 to 70 percent...

8 david,

Did anyone bother to do the calculation of BTUs lost (through scrapping useful vehicles) with BTUs saved (via more efficient new cars)? I'm guessing the answer is "no."

Of course the answer is no. Calculation and BTUs are both Europpressive concepts of no relevance in the eOn of miracles. So we not only expend energy on building cars but we also expend energy on destroying usable ones. The point is to use energy. To be active. To be revolutionary! Using an old car is conservative. Destroying one is change! Conversing is boring, but change is exciting. It's that excitement which drove half of Omerica to vote for the One.

Miss Ladybug,

Who needs charity once the State supplies us with everything from Government Motors cars to freeee health care? Give to the tax collector so that the State can redistribute in accordance with true sOcial justice. It is clear that unOrganized, private, and therefore unfair attempts at redistribution have failed to transform America into a prosperous nation like the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea. Omegas should stop choosing charities to support. Why let in-duh-viduals think when the One and the other chosen ones (praise Pelosi!) can do the hard wOrk for us little peOple?

9 "Conversing is boring" should be  "Conserving is boring".

Spelling is boring, too. Another Europpressive concept that must go!

Literacy is overrated. Ask the Khmer Rouge. They didn't need literate farmers to power their mighty economy.

Reason can be surprisingly perceptive l for a magazine that fails to grasp the success of Communism:

funneling money to an auto industry that it already largely owns (at a hefty taxpayer price tag), then taking multiple (and multiply premature) bows for rescuing the economy and the auto industry in the process.

It's all about empowering Ourselves (i.e., Government Motors) and taking the bows, baby! (Was that sexist? Do we have to report that at our next self-criticism session?)

What matters to us is not what our pOlicies actually do, but what people think about them. We live in the realm of beliefs, not facts. This is why media cOntrol is a must. On Wednesday, CNN cited a poll saying Omericans were in favor of Obamacare 50 to 45. Make people think your way is the majority way. (And it might very well be, for the program to Redden Omerica has been progressing smoothly for decades.) Use peer pressure. Everyone's wOrshipping the Great Leader ... why not me? Marginalize the Rightist freaks. Make them hide in their gulches. They cannot stop the mighty prOletariat from taking back Omerica and handing it all to the One.

10 CaliValleyGirl,

It's another breaking windows scheme.

It is. That's the beauty of it. Making windows ... zzz. Breaking 'em ... kewl, maaaan. Destruction is the most obvious form of change. In the blink of an eye, blam!, something that took so much effort to make is gone! The next time you see Leftist activists going wild - though not as wild as the 'health careless' savages - think of how their property destruction stimulates the economy!

Sarah,

Obama is changing with the winds of focus groups.

Did you expect Mr. Hopenchange to - gasp! - remain stable? That would put us to sleep. Besides, one thing remains constant: his devotion to sOcialism. He will cOntrol all. Only his wording is changing (emphasis ours):

Every Wednesday night senior Obama aides gather for two hours to review the latest polling and focus-group data to develop that packaging.

Health care reform yesterday, health insurance reform today, whatever, the goal remains the same. Increase pOwer by pandering to the peOple. Forget objective facts; focus on subjective beliefs. Tell the mOb what they want to hear so they reelect you. They won't remember what you said yesterday. They're too thrilled by the sounds of broken glass to care.