This is big news right now and I just “thought” that since I am suddenly on a political soapbox, I might as well stay on it just a little bit longer.  Again, I am the first to admit that I am not fully engulfed in politics and that I might be talking out of my ass, but guess what, I’m still gonna talk.

I will admit to you that I only heard of this program yesterday…WHAT!!!  Am I trapped in a bubble?  Kind of… I told you guys already that normally I make it a point to not listen, see or read the news.  But, one of my friends on Facebook made a comment about this program called CARS (Car Allowance Rebate System), then all of her friends made a comment and well it sparked my interest.  So, I did what I always do, which is go to Wikipedia and find out what is exactly going on.  Now, I know this isn’t the main source, but it was a good start.

Now I get it, take your gas guzzler old car, go to a dealership, scrap the clunker and get a rebate for a newer, more fuel efficient car.  This program is a decent attempt to kill two birds with one stone…help the environment a little bit and help the economy at the same time.  It was trying to create a win-win situation for everyone.

But, it was too successful.  The 1 billion dollars was spent in a blink of an eye and now lots of people are “freaking” out for many and different reasons.  Some people are mad because there wasn’t enough money to make this last longer.  Some people are mad because they think the government was stupid to “waste” that much money in that short of a time.  Some people are pissed because they want it extended (which I think will happen seeing that they originally thought the budget should be for 4 billion).  Still others are pissed because the money that was used came from what they consider the “wrong pile”.  I guess it should have come from the stimulus plan, but instead got voted under the deficit plan.  Also, others feel it just should have never of happened in the first place.  Finally, people are just pissed because nothing this government does will make them happy.  They think they can do a better job themselves.

Here’s what I think…

I think it was a good idea, but the government didn’t implement it properly.  I think that the rules could have been a little stricter.  Meaning, instead of 18 miles per gallon, maybe it should have been less 17 miles or even 16…there must be vehicles out there that get that kind of crappy gas mileage.  I hate to admit it, but I think mine would fit into that category.  Damn it, I’m buying a hybrid next time, I swear!

Also, if this was to help out American jobs and the American economy, I think the government should have only allowed the rebate to be used toward buying American vehicles.  Now, I’m a BMW person by nature, but that doesn’t mean that the German engineering should profit from our “stimulus” package.

Finally, there are people like me who are skeptical of where all that money went.  I would love for the government to act like a tightly ran business.  A business that is on the up and up and makes you show where every dime is coming in and every dime that is going out.  I know, fantasy land, but it would really help all of us out knowing exactly to the penny where it was all going.  I mean something as simple as a line by line spreadsheet of how that 1 billion was spent.  I want to know how much was spent in rebates, in publicity, in man-hours, in padding peoples pockets, in everything.  If they could be that honest with the public, maybe people would chill and let the government try to help the economy and the environment out.

Anyway, like I said, I think on paper it was a good solid idea, but somewhere along the way, like most governmental things…it got lost in translation.