Being 'Cashed Out' By Clunky Thinking?

Over the last four weeks, I’ve had great opportunities to listen to many of America’s best minds – people of agriculture. What concerns me most is that so many – not just people of agriculture – fear for the future of this country.

The fear is that power brings arrogance, and arrogance breeds abuse of that power. To hear Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) say, in essence, “We can shove the public health care option through Congress without bipartisan agreement” is equivalent to shoving it down America’s throat. Shades of Pelosi! And every politician conducting a town meeting has been confronted by anger over this arrogance.

You guessed it: I’m not a registered Democrat. I’ve voted for some of them. But that probably won’t keep me on the “patriot list” of today’s more progressive thinkers.

Yes, our nation’s leaders needed to help the economy recover. But bailing and spending and bailing and spending our way out of the recession made sense only to Uncle Sam, not my banker and not me.

Clunky spending example

Tonight, the “Cash for Clunkers” program heads for the policy junkyard – none too soon. Meant to jack up sales of U.S. car makers, it added U.S. cars to the clunker pile, but sold far more foreign brands.

Unless your clunker needed a very expensive overhaul, trading any vehicle worth close to its clunker voucher value was dumb. That’s the word from Kiplinger’s Personal Finance writers. You swapped maybe a $2,500 valve job for a $25,000 new car/truck loan.   

Congratulations. You helped America’s clunky car makers and its clunky thinking politicos. That makes you a patriotic American . . . or does it?

The people who built the clunker program are scheming to overhaul America’s health care system – and they’re flat busted! I’m talking monetarily spent, not feminine prominence. They want Uncle Sam to keep writing checks on your and my assets, not theirs. That’s counterfeiting and forgery – except for those who are above the law. And that’s part of the problem.

I'd strongly favor a national referendum to merge the congressional and federal health care programs – no grandfathering clause – with any national health care reform program. If it’s good enough for the people, it’s good enough for those who represent and work for us. It's time for America's people to reclaim America's leadership.

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