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Just a reminder: Cash for Clunkers requires destroying perfectly usable cars - Video »
Posted By pc25 4 months ago in News
Rarely do you encounter a wealth-destroying green measure that literally destroys wealth but this is an exception and therefore a sweet, sweet metaphor for Obamanomics. I think some people are under the impression that C4C is just a trade-in program, where the dealer gets to keep the buyer’s old ride and sell it for parts or to a used-car dealer, etc. Not so. The whole point is to get fuel-inefficient vehicles off the road, which means the engines — the most valuable part — have to be destroyed
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pc254 months ago
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Goppy4 months ago
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How Ironic. ... ... ... Modern Republicans pleading for conservation ...
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oh wait ... it's not environmental conservation ....
it's crocodile tears for old gas guzzlers ....
well ... the Right is nothing ... if not predictable ... advocates for environmental waste and destruction ... ... ...
The topper?
They're WHINING about it!
It's like they're TREE HUGGERS ... but in this case ... they're RUSTY TIN HUGGERS!!!
Too funny.
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RedRiverJ4 months ago
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Not only that if you go out to their website cars.gov once you sign in their agreement claims the following happens.
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This application provides access to the DOT CARS system. When logged on to the CARS system, your computer is considered a Federal computer system and is the property of the U.S. Government.
Any or all uses of this system and all the files on this system may be intercepted, monitored, recorded, copied, audited, inspected, and disclosed to authorized CARS, DOT, and law enforcement personal, as well as authorized officials of other agencies, both domestic and FOREIGN.
video here......
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pc254 months ago
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FTA
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The Cash for Clunkers program is stupid for a lot of reasons. Not only is it just another tax-payer bailout of the unions automakers, who can sell more cars at artificially depressed prices so they can keep the doors open. It also screws with the free-market (big surprise there) by pulling forward demand that isn’t there now, only to kill demand over the next 1-2 years. Killing off the clunkers also hurts the used car market, the spare parts market, and the auto repair business. If there aren’t any old cars to buy or fix, those guys are all out of a job.
But one of the most asinine parts of the plan is that they take old cars, many of which were being used as functional day-to-day transportation the day before, and destroy them. A perfectly good and useful machine destroyed for political reasons…
that was a sweet looking Volvo that they Blew up......Obama's WEALTH DESTROYING PROGRAMS -
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pc254 months ago
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cant' help it
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http://www.moonbattery.com/mr-racial-opportunist.j... -
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Klarissa4 months ago
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I don't want to hear even one more time about how successful Germany's program was.
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They thought about it before they did it.
Any car older than 9 years old qualified.
The obama plan - have a heavy foot on the accelerator and trade in your car.
And, 4 of 5 tradeins are trucks.-
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deathray4 months ago
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The problems "producers" -- in this case, car dealerships -- are having are a direct result of the success of the program. There's so much demand, that government is having a hard time processing reimburses of the $4500 credit that goes towards the purchase of a new car. The "producers" are also worried that because demand has already sucked down the initial $1 billion of funding provided, they might be left holding the bag for cars that consumers have already bought, if the program closes down abruptly.
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Congress is not going to let that happen. Even if Cash for Clunkers is providing only marginal environmental benefits, it is clearly exerting a stimulative effect on the economy, automakers, and, eventually, recession-hammered Midwestern states. That's a winning trifecta for the Obama administration. I would be shocked if the Senate doesn't fall into line with the House.
http://www.salon.com/tech/htww/ -
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deathray4 months ago
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A similar idea has had some success in Germany, where February car sales rose 21.5 percent. The magazine Der Spiegel reported that the atmosphere at car dealers there was “like a county fair.”
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http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/06/are-c... -
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deathray4 months ago
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CASH FOR CLUNKERS
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Car-Scrapping Plans -- Germany's Lessons
By Jack Ewing
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cash-for-clunkers scheme has boosted auto sales, saved factory jobs, and rid the roads of gas guzzlers. But the costs are high.
The global auto industry may be facing its worst crisis ever, but you'd never know it at Ford Motor's factory in Cologne. There, workers are putting in extra shifts on weekends to cope with demand for the compact Fiesta. In fact, Ford sales have been booming in Germany. Customers have placed orders for 68,500 Fiestas, Ka subcompacts, and midsize Fusions in the four months to April, more than triple the year-earlier figure.
Thanks for this gravity-defying performance go -- at least in part -- to the German government's so-called environment bonus, which Germans prefer to call the Abwrackprämie, or "wreck rebate."
The program, launched in February, is Chancellor Angela Merkel's most visible economic stimulus measure. It pays $3,320 to people who scrap a car that's at least nine years old and buy a new car instead. The scheme has more than offset the effects of the global downturn on domestic auto sales, preserved factory jobs, and encouraged people to replace gas-guzzling, exhaust-spewing clunkers with the latest engine technology.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,151...
one would think that these object lessons would appeal to those who want the economy to improve...but you don't really want that, do you?
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Wolfie20074 months ago
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Not only are the clunkers drivable but they are destroying parts that those of us who don't go out and buy a new car might need to fix our own clunkers down the road. I bought a new care in 2005, I don't need to buy another right now car even one that gets 50 mpg. I'll just keep driving mine until it becomes a clunker.
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fjgalt4 months ago
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This program is considered a success. Next we'll break all your windows so you'll have to buy new windows that provide better insulation. Oh, and your old furnace won't cut it any more; you'll need a new one. Ditto for your air conditioner, both with a thermostat controlled by the power companies (with settings coming from a bureaucrat using "scientifically" calculated degree-days and earth-friendly considerations). Don't forget the hot water heater; oh, it might be better to install a heater at the faucet and shower that only gets used when you want hot water.
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Just think of all the jobs replacing windows, furnaces, air conditioners. Of course, no net increase in wealth; actually, it'll be decreased because we'll have to pay for all those new jobs.
Is this really America?
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Painesright4 months ago
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Don't worry, all of the low-income people who would have loved to buy one of those "clunkers" in order to get themselves to and from work won't have a job to get to and from once Obama gets through running every possible job out of the country by over-taxing and over-regulating.
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A bicycle works just fine when all you have to do is ride to the corner store to cash your gov't check. -
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Painesright4 months ago
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Come to think of it, why stop with cars??
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Instead of giving our slightly used clothes to Goodwill, the Red Cross or the Salvation Army, let's cut them up and throw them away (cutting them up insures that some enterprising person can't salvage them from the trash and attempt to sell them for a profit... can't have that!).
Then, the gov't can send out lots and lots of Cash for Clothes checks!
That should stimulate all sorts of jobs in the otherwise defunct U.S. garment industry (money can only be spent on clothes that are made in the U.S. of course, good luck finding those!).
Moving on, let's open every can of food in our pantries and grind-up the food in the diposal!
No need to donate to a soup kitchen or food bank!
The gov't can send out Cash for Cans (cans of food that is).
That should really help the farmers (and fisherman if you include tuna and sardines!!). Presto, agriculture is back!
And of course, the next step would be houses. Instead of letting someone buy a foreclosed house for a low price that they can afford, let's bulldoze every vacant house in America!
Then, the gov't can send out Cash for Condos!
Imagine the construction jobs we'll "create"!! (btw, they are already doing that with the $8,000 first-time-home-buyer tax credit)
Wait, there's more! How about tearing up all of the perfectly good roads!?! Rebuilding those could keep people employed for the next couple of decades!!
Wow, this is easy! Just destroy, destroy, destroy and pay for brand new stuff with other people's money (or borrow more $$ from our friends in China).
So glad that someone as smart as Obama, Pelosi and Reid (and Frank, don't forget Frank) finally figured out how to fix our economy.
We are in SUCH good hands.
Not.-
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wtagg4 months ago
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"Wait, there's more! How about tearing up all of the perfectly good roads!?! Rebuilding those could keep people employed for the next couple of decades!!"
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Actually, I think there are plenty of bad roads to start with, though considering the speed in which road work occurs in this country, that might take centuries.
If you want results, it might be best to hire a Canadian company for road/bridge work. -
LoveofcountryComment removed: Hard Banned1 Reply
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tadair9194 months ago
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during the depression they plowed crops and killed livestock to artificially keep prices high. today they are destroying car engines for cash paid for by your grandchildren so they can sell archaic gas-guzzling cars that nobody wants.
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so here we are. days after the clash for clunkers program started, people started grabbing at the money so fast they had to suspend it a week after it launched. so then our congress asked for twice as much money as the first time, and now is asking for twice as much money as the second time. that's 7 bn requested in about 10 days. this is begining to get as expensive as the war of terrorism. and it is a war. a war on your grandchildren's wallet.
when your grandchildren ask you why they owe tens of thousands of dollars for merely being born in amerika, i hope your answer isn't "i was updating my profile on propeller." -
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tadair9194 months ago
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The Parable of the broken window
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_broken...
The parable describes a shopkeeper whose window is broken by a little boy. Everyone sympathizes with the man whose window was broken, but pretty soon they start to suggest that the broken window makes work for the glazier, who will then buy bread, benefiting the baker, who will then buy shoes, benefiting the cobbler, etc. Finally, the onlookers conclude that the little boy was not guilty of vandalism; instead he was a public benefactor, creating economic benefits for everyone in town.
The fallacy of the onlookers' argument is that they considered only the benefits of purchasing a new window, but they ignored the cost to the shopkeeper. As the shopkeeper was forced to spend his money on a new window, he could not spend it on something else. For example, the shopkeeper might have preferred to spend the money on bread and shoes for himself (thus enriching the baker and cobbler), but now cannot because he must fix his window.
Thus, the child did not bring any net benefit to the town. Instead, he made the town poorer by at least the value of one window, if not more. His actions benefited the glazier, but at the expense not only of the shopkeeper, but the baker and cobbler as well.
Keynesians argue that in some circumstances the little boy may actually be a benefactor(!?), though not the best possible one. Facing severely underutilized resources (as in the Great Depression), John Maynard Keynes argued that it may make economic sense to build totally useless pyramids in order to stimulate the economy, raise aggregate demand, and encourage full employment.
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Some claim that war is a benefactor, since historically it often has focused the use of resources and triggered advances in technology and other areas. The increased production and employment associated with war often leads some to claim that "war is good for the economy." However, this is an example of the broken window fallacy. The money spent on the war effort, for example, is money that cannot be spent on food, clothing, health care, consumer electronics or other areas. The stimulus felt in one sector of the economy comes at a direct—but hidden—cost to other sectors.
More importantly, war destroys property and lives. The economic stimulus to the defense sector is offset not only by immediate opportunity costs,...-
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fjgalt4 months ago
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Since government doesn't produce wealth, it can only "create" jobs at the expense of other jobs. When money is taken from citizens who have some, they have less to spend on themselves (such as your example shows), so the people who would have provided the goods and services don't have work.
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There is always a net loss of jobs whenever the government tries to create jobs; you have to figure in the administrative costs of the government.
But they can always point to the created jobs. The layoffs and firings of those who didn't have enough work as a result of taxation are never shown.
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stephen-johnson4 months ago
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The Cash For Clunkers program will cause a temporary upward spike in auto purchases, but it won't be sustained. The following time period will see a drop in auto sales.
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This so-called stimulus was poorly thought out, both in execution and in long term effect. But the government will do better with nationalized health care.
/sarcasm off-
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mesodude4 months ago
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"The Cash For Clunkers program will cause a temporary upward spike in auto purchases, but it won't be sustained. The following time period will see a drop in auto sales."
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--It's supposed to help pull our economy out of a nosedive. What were you told it was going to accomplish?
"This so-called stimulus was poorly thought out, both in execution and in long term effect. But the government will do better with nationalized health care."
--I'm just not sure people who support those who aren't in power today because they helped run the economy in to a ditch (by supporting Bush's obscenely expensive tax cuts and multiple wars) are the most compelling when it comes to predictions for economic success. ;-(
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german-shepard4 months ago
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Not true! In fact it will make used cars more valuable for the sellers. And it will reduce the polluting effect of many older models considerably. This is a good chance to get rid of old, worthless, polluting 70s, 80s and 90s era cars
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Dionys4 months ago
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"I think some people are under the impression that C4C is just a trade-in program, where the dealer gets to keep the buyer’s old ride and sell it for parts or to a used-car dealer, etc. Not so."
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I don't think anyone was this stupid if they paid attention.
Cash for Clunkers means getting gas guzzling, polluting craphole cars off the road while getting a car that gets much better mileage and pollutes the air much less at a reduced cost to the consumer.
The reason they're destroying the engine, "the most valuable part of the car," is BECAUSE IT'S A POLLUTING CRAPHOLE OF AN ENGINE WHEN COMPARED TO A NEWER CAR AND ENGINE AS REQUIRED BY THE C4C PROGRAM.
No tricks. It just helps the economy, helps out the car industry and car manufacturers (along with those who sell, service, build parts for, et cetera cars) while ALSO improving the environment and polluting the atmosphere and planet less.
What do you Jackass repugnant Cons have against that? Or are you just still angry about the election and the turnaround of the recession? -
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mesodude4 months ago
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"Generally, trade-in vehicles must get 18 or less MPG (some very large pick-up trucks and cargo vans have different requirements)"
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--Hmmm...I could be wrong but do we really want to encourage low income and poor used car buyers to choose cars they can't afford to insure or maintain (because they're spending between $50 and $100 to keep their gas tanks filled a few times per month)? Just sayin... ;-( -
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MeanMotherUSA4 months ago
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8-1-09... 90% U S A Idiots Do Not Even Know Cars Since 1980 Became Unitized Beer Cans On Wheels = No Under Car Frames,No Bumpers,Firewalls,Trunks,Shot In Burning Foam Insulation,Exploding Gas Tanks,Water Base Paints...
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{{{ AIR BAGS IN YOUR FACE }}}}
GMC, Chrysler, Ford,Foreign Car Makers Followed Saved BILLION$ In Lieu Of... Now They Cannot Even Sell Beer Cans On Wheels With Out US.Gov Pushing Clunkers On Wheels (IN YOUR FACE)....You Get My Guns Just Like You Get My Cars =
...Over My Dead Body!
All For $50,000.00 Driving In Your Own Funeral Wagon (Death Traps) On Way To Holy Hell..
Etal: 99% Of You Don't Know CALIFORNIA (Mexifornia) Passed Laws In 1972 That All Cars Must Have 15 mph Impact Bumpers...
I Owned 1973 Olds Cutlass(X G F Has It) It Has Shock Absorber Bumpers Collapsing Grilles To Protect Cars...
I Can't Stop Laughing...
MeanMotherUSA... -
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MeanMotherUSA4 months ago
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8-1-09... 90% U S A Idiots Do Not Even Know Cars Since 1980 Became Unitized Beer Cans On Wheels = No Under Car Frames,No Bumpers,Firewalls,Trunks,Shot In Burning Foam Insulation,Exploding Gas Tanks,Water Base Paints...
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{{{ AIR BAGS IN YOUR FACE }}}}
GMC, Chrysler, Ford,Foreign Car Makers Followed Saved BILLION$ In Lieu Of... Now They Cannot Even Sell Beer Cans On Wheels With Out US.Gov Pushing Clunkers On Wheels (IN YOUR FACE)....You Get My Guns Just Like You Get My Cars =
...Over My Dead Body!
All For $50,000.00 Driving In Your Own Funeral Wagon (Death Traps) On Way To Holy Hell..
Etal: 99% Of You Don't Know CALIFORNIA (Mexifornia) Passed Laws In 1972 That All Cars Must Have 15 mph Impact Bumpers...
I Owned 1973 Olds Cutlass(X G F Has It) It Has Shock Absorber Bumpers Collapsing Grilles To Protect Cars...
I Can't Stop Laughing...
MeanMotherUSA... -
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Painesright4 months ago
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Where are my manners?
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I totally forgot to say "congrats!" to the liberals for launching what they are calling their "most successful program in decades".
Successful indeed!
You managed to combine all types of welfare into one program:
Corporate welfare
Individual welfare
Special Interest welfare (shout out to the unions!!)
Um, that's all of the types of welfare that I can name, but plz feel free to fill me in if there are more.
At the same time, you are achieving the hard-to-appreciate-unless-you've-actually-tried-it feat of harming the very people you are supposedly trying to help.
Cash for Clunker buyers HAD a working car that was probably paid for and cheap to insure... but now they have a big ole car note and more expensive insurance (bet the car finance and insurance guys love you for that!) Nice job!
And another thing... darn right Mr. Obama deserves a vacation!
Passing out big checks to that many people AND making sure they destroy perfectly good working cars must be hard work.
Uh oh, looks like we are gonna need another czar. Car "Destruction" Czar that is! (Only those with absolutely NO business experience should apply) Submit your resumes at the new and improved recovery.gov (I've never seen a better way to spend $18 million. Way to go!).
Now, don't let anyone make you feel bad about the whole "wealth destroying" thingy.
Wealth is so overrated... just ask Mr. O and family as they vacation at the $20 million home on Martha's Vineyard. (yawn, creating long-term jobs and working for money is sooooo 1980's, right?!).
Oh and another thing... that is so thoughtful of you to make yourselves look so completely stupid (even though we all know how well-educated you all are) so that the rest of us can look smart. Truly selfless of you!
Bottomline, I'm in awe. If you can destroy this much in only 6 mos... just imagine how much MORE destroying you can do in 4 years!
The possibilities are endless... Cap and Tax, Card Check, Socialized Medicine... I'd be willing to bet that those programs will also be more successful than your wildest dreams (assuming your dream is to kill jobs and destroy the most advanced healthcare system in the world).
Keep those printing presses running.
With success like this, you are going to need lots and lots of ink!
(P.S.: To all the people who were hoping to buy reasonably priced used cars or car parts in the next few years... SORRY SUCKAS!!!)
sarc... well sort of. -
ekklesiawarriorComment removed: Hard Banned4 Replies
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ekklesiawarriorComment removed: Hard Banned2 Replies
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dxxy4u4 months ago
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They need to get all those Gas Hogs off the road. Then we'll have a surplus of gas. And that means lower gas prices at the pump. You REPUTARDS are so bent on bashing Obama, until you are sounding Dumber and Dumber every time you blog.
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nonparted4 months ago
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"They need to get all those Gas Hogs off the road. Then we'll have a surplus of gas. And that means lower gas prices at the pump."
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dxxy4y
how do u figure?
oil companies wil l keep prices or raise them to make up for loss profit even if there was a surplus.
is this plan going to turn out like the housing mess when people spent above their means so they can live like the Jones when unemployment is above 9% nationaly
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Icantwait4 months ago
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My Fellow Americans: Dumb Damocrats, the poor can't take advantage of this Rip Off Program. The Middle Class is doing what they always do. Trading in for a new car every 2 or 3 years. Except this time they get a $4500.00 tax payer check to do it. Might as well take advantage of tax money paid into the Government Till.
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Why can't the poor take advantage of this program? Their clunkers are to clunkery. The Administration wants good running clunkers so they can sell them overseas, so they can pollute some other country. The poor Black and Hispanic folk won't even be able to repair their own certifiable clunkers, no parts, parts all gone.
Obama is looking out for you folks. No car, no jobs, can't get one if you could get one, can't get to it without a car, must live off the government the rest of your lives, which will be shorten with National Health Care, your turn to die.
One more thing about this Money Giveaway Program. You could get the same money off deal even if the Government did not hand you a check. Good Con, Escalate the Price of the Cars, no reduction in the price of the car because of the government check, government then sends their tax money to them in a government check. Finance charges are much higher, taxes are much higher, states with excise taxes are much higher, gas will be much higher, repairs will be much higher, disposing of environmentally hazardous batteries with be extremely expensive in hybrids, more pollution instead of less. Yes, the good old Damocratic Money Pit. Are you not proud of your Man? Damocrats! The Real American-
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MeanMotherUSA4 months ago
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8-2-09...
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icantwait
Write Right On $$$$$$$.....Esp. Hazardous Batteries vs **Corn Fed Gasoline...
** Corn Fed Gas CHEAP 81 Octane Is Whiskey,Alcohol, Use House Hold Cleaners
To Kick Up Octane...
USA Is We Are Drowning In Our Own OIL....
Re Read My Previous Write...
Etal: All Idiots Hell Bent (Brain Dead) On Saving Gas Should Be Made By Law ToGo To
Hi Tech Automotive Schools...
MeanMotherUSA
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deletezoro4 months ago
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Hey nimrods if the folks buying cars didnt want a new one they wouldnt be trading it in. why do you feel so sorry for the faulty American cars designed to fail around 80,000 miles or less. The American car companies have been screwing you for decades. in oreder to keep jobs based on oil supply. we need to get away from oil!! dont you get it?!! 3rd graders understand this.!!!!!! Destroy all the faulty clunkers!! Recycle! demand that American cars become more efficient! stop wyning about Obama
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majorhardon420Comment removed: Hard Banned4 Replies
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