Cash for junkies

     It figures the most popular government program for the average Joe — the Cash for Clunkers gambit — has caught our Federal friends flatfooted.

   I mean how can the current White House occupiers ever comprehend that every previously hatched stimulus goose only fed the thieves at the top of the food chain — leaving the broke and hungry spenders at the bottom with no access to credit, no (immediate) prospects for a better job (if a job at all) and no ability to spend money other than on groceries and the gas with which to fetch those groceries?

   But since the Germans krafted a similar scheme a few months back — and it seemed to help the Kraut Kar Industri — why kan't it work in the good ol' USA?

   Indeed.

   Except the U.S. is not the same as Germany or any other country on the planet: In America we are US and everybody else is THEM.

   We have been schooled and retooled, cajoled and shamed, shaped and trained to spend money in this country, whether we have it or not.
   It's what we do best.
   What matters in America is: how big is it? how new is it? how much does it cost? And most importantly, can I pay for it later?

What ever it is, we want the most and biggest and no we cannot wait for it later — what are you nuts?!

   So how could you miss the popularity of a program that allows you to finally spend some money in order to get a new car, plus get more more for your current car than your current car is worth?

   I dunno, but thousands are leaping at the chance to give up 'bigger' for 'newer' and 'cheaper' and feed the absolute RUSH OF SPENDING that they simply cannot repress (and there are few scents quite as beguiling as that of a new car).

   On the other side, what were once the American medals of machismo are now looking a tad limp.

   From the L.A. Times we have this: Where American automakers really dominate is on the clunker side of the equation.

   Of the top 10 trade-ins, all are made by U.S. companies: Ford Explorer 2WD and4WD, Ford F-150 2WD and 4WD, Jeep Cherokee and Jeep Grand Cherokee 4WD, Dodge Caravan, Chevy Blazer 4WD, Chevy Silverado 1500 2WD and Ford Windstar.