Comments (1)

By Cassandra Effect, August 1, 2009 10:29 am

The funding for this bill will grow and grow and grow.  Why?  Because EVERYONE stands to gain on this with no obvious victim.  To wit:

1. People and Businesses replacing older cars get free money (up to $4500!)
2. Car Dealers see an increase in current sales (at the expense of future sales, but who cares about that right now)
3. The Main Stream Media sees an increase in advertising revenue from manufacturers and dealers (The Auto business is one of the top ad categories)
4. Politicians get a chance to give the “People” Free Money and collect votes
5. Auto Unions see the Government doing “something” to help them

So what’s not to love?

Well, let’s see………..

• it’s not the role of the Federal Government to reapportion taxpayer money to fund a SINGLE taxpayer’s discretionary purchases.  And yes, a new car is discretionary.
• People who previously bought more fuel efficient vehicles and who wish to replace them get no incentive.  Only those who bought worse fuel economy vehicles stand to benefit.  I hope you didn’t “go green” too long ago!
• DESTROYING the “clunkers” puts increased pricing pressure on older, cheaper vehicles for those who may only be able to only afford a used car. 
• DESTROYING the clunkers is not very green, since the cars may have plenty of useful service life (the trade in vehicle may be only a year old!) and can contribute as parts cars for the used market.
• And finally – REPLACING a clunker is not the most efficient use of financial resources…follow the math…

You have a Used car that is fully paid off.  Lets say it gets 10 miles per gallon.  You decide to buy a new car that gets 30 miles per gallon.  You drive 15,000 miles per year.  We will also assume gas costs $2.50 per gallon.  We’ll say it costs $1000 per year to maintain the clunker and $100 a year for the new car.  Insurance on the clunker is $400 and $800 on the new car.  Well say the new car costs $20,000, and we’ll assume you pay straight cash for it.

Scenario 1 – Keep the Used Car (costs over 5 years)

Fuel cost  = $18750

Maintainance Costs = $5000

Insurance = $2000

5 year cost of ownership = $25,750

Scenario 2 – Buy New Car and replace Clunker

Fuel Cost = $6250

Maintainance Costs = $500

Insurance = $4000

Car Cost = $20,000

5 year cost of ownership = $30,750

USED CAR WINS by $5000.  And we used a really unfavorable mpg comparison that was skewed strongly to the New car.

This example does not account for time value of money, and it does not even account for the interest payments that most people would pay financing the car.  Nor do I even bother to calculate the sales tax or ad valorem taxes that would be due on the new car.

So NORMALLY it would be in a person’s best financial interest to keep the Used Car.  So what are we doing?  We’re giving people up to $4500 to offset what the MARKET should be doing on its own.  All on your dime.

It truly makes you a sucker if you DON”T go out and buy a car…so sad…..

Comments (0)

By Cassandra Effect, July 13, 2009 7:33 am

The Cassandra Effect makes it Main Stream Media debut in New York City’s The Village Voice!  The article?  A blog titled Rightbloggers’ Palin Yak Grows Dull — Let’s Go Back to Galt’s Gulch!  Its not clear if blogger Roy Edroso appreciates the notion of “Going Galt” or seeks to make fun of it – my read of the article seems like he is a bit conflicted in where he stands. Either way, Cassandra Readers readers saw it here first in  Sarah Palin “Going Galt”

Edroso has an edgy wit and enjoys making fine use of Alinsky Rule #5 “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.”  He even states such in another post:

 Mockery’s like manure — it’s no good unless you spread it around.

So it looks like we’re officially a “Right Wing Blog”.   Right or Left wing is clearly in the eye of the beholder.

If I dare. lets  use Wikipedia to describe the Right/Left Wing Debate: (emphasis mine)

The terms left and right are often used to spin a particular point of view, rather than as simple descriptors. In modern political rhetoric, those on the Left typically emphasize their support of working people and accuse the Right of supporting the interests of the upper class, whereas those on the Right usually emphasize their support of individualism and accuse the Left of supporting collectivism. Thus, arguments about the way the words should be used often displace arguments about policy by raising emotional prejudice against a preconceived notion of what left and right mean.

Now, let us consider the notion of left/right again…….

You’ve got to love the angry white dude in the camo t shirt.  And why isn’t he also holding a gun?

Comments (2)

By Cassandra Effect, June 29, 2009 5:00 pm

The GOP is a dead brand.

What does the average person think of when they conjure up an image of the GOP?

Old White Men?  Greedy, CorporateFat Cats?  “Speculators,” Racists, stuck in the past, Religious Moralizers?

What images doe the Democrat brand hold?

Fairness, Helping the “little guy” and “middle income folks”, friend to minorities, open minded, etc.

Again – you may not agree with these impressions but they are INTEGRAL to why the Dem’s trounced the Republicans last election. From a BRANDING perspective, the Democrats have boxed the GOP into such

Now it is entirely possible that the Dem’s may completely blow it in the next year and allow the GOP to gain back some seats in the mid term election.  Hoping your opponent will make a mistake is a far cry from a STRATEGY.

The reality is that the GOP is a DEAD BRAND.  It allegedly stands for Conservative values, but they destroyed the fiscal trust during the Bush administration.   Now we hear all the GOP hacks talking about how they learned their lesson, but seriously folks – what lesson did they learn?   The Tea Party movement is the natural outgrowth of this anger among conservative Americans who are desperately looking for someone to carry their water in Washington.

So what’s the solution?

As any politician will tell you, the best way to get elected is to Give People Something!

That something is FREEDOM and LIBERTY. 

The Libertarian party name is already taken, and while an excellent platform ; their stance on legalizing drugs puts them outside the mainstream and the reality of getting a successful national movement going.  And lets be honest their Brand image is of the lone kook,or dope smoking hipster – like it or not.

That leaves The FREEDOM Party

Everyone likes something that is Free, and we even have that word in the name of the brand!  A bonus if you will!  the Dutch have already figured this out – will we?

I am sure Republicans won’t take this advice until AFTER the 2010 elections when they realize the Dem’s won’t give them too many openings.  Heck it may take until another national election where the Republican Party trots out another long in the tooth candidate short on solutions who gets trounced by Obama the Charismatic.

Once they lick their wounds, the Republicans will make a public show of repudiating their old brand and joining a new movement – the FREEDOM PARTY, where they can  leave the old brand baggage behind – including those GOP members who are not true to the brand.