BMN, Are bells and whistles enough?

Brian’s Morning Newsletter for Friday (yippee!) July 24th 2009

Good Morning
This morning we’re looking at the government Cash for Clunkers program. Even on paycheck day it is difficult to consider spending $20,000 on a car. The incentive is large, but I am surprised how low the fuel mileage is for new vehicles. Miles per gallon ratings seem to be going down over the last few years, for the VW TDI. I can’t help but think that the government has its head up its ass about the whole program. Now you’ve heard me be humble about health care. Go on, admit it, I actually said I didn’t know everything about something.

Cars and consumer electronics are a different story; I feel I can make statements with a credible certainty because of my history. The question is knowing something about a couple things enough to mold an impression about everything the government does? Sure there must be something the government does that is well thought out and effectively accomplished. At this point in my life, I’ll need to ask you what it is, because I don’t see it. So before I put my foot in a bloggers equivalent of a mouth, let me talk about what I do know about, cars and electronics, and society’s unfathomable infatuation with bells and whistles.

Since I brought up the cash for clunkers program with Nell this morning, I had to go look it up and see what the deal was. First off the bat I found that our 1984 Chevy Blazer fits the bill as a clunker, no surprise there. I’ve got the link below for the specs. Next at Nell’s suggestion I decided to find out if it was just crappy American cars companies that offer the incentive program. Alrighty, Volkswagen of America is listed as complying. One of the details that caught my eye is the wording in the cash for clunkers program whatever, pages, and I quote: "In order to qualify, eligible new vehicles must achieve at least 22 miles-per-gallon (mpg) for automobiles, and at least 18 mpg for small light-duty trucks and SUV’s, and trade-in vehicles must achieve 18 mpg or less."

Indeed one needn’t possess Brian’s infamous powers of observation to read what this says and scoff at its absurdity. So instead of building a passenger rail system that works for the citizens of the southwest U.S. our government is going to apply up to $4,500 (this is one billion dollars set aside for the auto industry) to a vehicle that gets four more miles to a gallon of fuel? I can’t believe what I am seeing, and as this insanity sinks it I am becoming more enraged by the minute. Whoever said knowledge is power must work for the government, because from my side it is apparent that less knowledge is a better ticket to ride on.

All right, we all have heard that the VW TDI series, albeit more expensive, is worth it because of the great fuel mileage they get, right? 40 to 60 MPG! Right? VW TDI have gotten this great miles per gallon of diesel fuel for 20 years. Sit down America, this years VW Tdi have a fuel economy of 30 to 41 mpg! What the hell? Okay so the government wants us to buy cars, and they will give us money as an incentive, but the best of the best for fuel mileage is worse than it was ten years ago? WTF?

I’m sorry it doesn’t really matter anyway. It was poor planing on our parts that even with a Bachelors of Science and a teaching degree for Nell and three years of college and all my experience in consumers electronics that we live below the poverty level. By no stretch of a imagination is there room for a car payment in our budget. It is obvious who benefits from this incentive program: The auto industry, and the bankers. The government would need to give us half price for us to afford a car we could rely on to get us to work. We often hear people say that we live in a beautiful place.

There is no doubt about this fact, and because of our choice of the place we wish to live obviously we must sacrifice some of the luxury people in urban areas possess. For example we can’t go to the opera. But hey, if we wanted to live in the middle of Death Valley, we could, right? We’re Americans, we do whatever we want to do. Being American doesn’t let us off the hook for the laws of nature and survival of the fittest, now does it. We don’t drive to Santa Fe to work at better paying jobs, and we choose to stay here, so are we screwed?

It certainly looks like the government isn’t doing anything to help the people who haven’t played the credit card game. Where is our incentive to live within our means? Where is the fucking train? I told Nell this morning we are literally trapped here at the ranch because of poor planning by our government. It is plain as the nose on my face that the auto industry is controlling the government, otherwise why would they be giving middle class Americans $4,500 to buy a car that gets four MPG greater than the cars we already own? Yeah, I’m mad, you should be too.

It is a good thing we live in a beautiful place because at this point it doesn’t look like we’ll ever be able to leave home.
Maybe we will live to see the Railrunner make it to Las Vegas, although I have serious doubts.
disgruntled in northern New Mexico
Brian Rodgers
P.S. take a look at any of the web sites for the car companies, they have spent a fortune selling us push button controls of mirrors and doors, but try and locate any information of drive train and fuel economy, good luck

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