The Conservative Edge

The rush is over. The Cash-for-Clunkers program ended yesterday, August 24. Also known by the acronym CARS, the clunker program was originally planned to be effective through November of this year. Several factors may have contributed to the early termination.

For one thing, the processing duties were overwhelming. The government had to hire hundreds of people to keep up with the flood of paperwork. Additionally, many dealers weren’t getting reimbursed by the government. As a result, dealerships were left with dozens of clunkers on their lots. The dealers could send the vehicles to salvage yards only after receiving CARS money for the trade-ins.

Besides these and other operational hiccups, there might have been another reason the government terminated the program. Sales figures show that many Americans were still buying trucks and SUVs, rather than Priuses and Civics. Lots of folks wanted bigger vehicles; they simply traded in older trucks and 4×4s on similar, more fuel-efficient vehicles of the same size.

This is not what the Obama administration was hoping for. The were two underlying purposes of the CARS program. Firstly, the government hoped to steer people into buying the kinds of cars that the government wanted them to drive (and destroy hundreds of older vehicles in the process). Secondly, the government really wants people to think that only the government can provide for them. In fact, Obama made a statement earlier this year that “the federal government is the only entity left with the resources to jolt our economy back into life.” The CARS program is the first step in convincing the public of that notion.

And now, comes the second version of CARS. The government is going to offer everyone rebates to help purchase more energy-efficient appliances. As described on Yahoo! Finance, “A $300 million cash-for-clunkers-type federal program to boost sales of energy-efficient home appliances provides a glimmer of hope for beleaguered makers of washing machines and dishwashers…Beginning late this fall, the program authorizes rebates of $50 to $200 for purchases of high-efficiency household appliances. Only appliances covered by the Energy Star seal will qualify. The money is part of the broader economic stimulus bill passed earlier this year. Unlike the clunkers auto program, consumers won’t have to trade in their old appliances. ‘These rebates will help families make the transition to more efficient appliances, making purchases that will directly stimulate the economy,’ Energy Secretary Steven Chu said in a statement announcing the plan.”

How nice to have the government taking care of us. For a growing number of Americans, it’s getting so that whenever they get in their car, or open the fridge, they will warmly think of the benevolent government that helped pay for it all. But look at it another way—this could cause some people to assume larger levels of debt in order to purchase these goods through government programs. This may give a short term boost to the product makers, but it will be detrimental to consumers’ financial health.

Americans are aware, by now, of the need to be energy-efficient. We shouldn’t need the government to make product choices for us. Besides, we’re still waiting on the thousands of jobs that the Obama administration was going to create. He campaigned on the idea that Americans would be put to work rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure. But now, he wants us to buy a new fridge. Some of us might do so, if we had good-paying jobs.

I’m sure that nearly everyone who reads this post is familiar with a certain line spoken at many marriage ceremonies. Namely, if someone has good reason why a man and woman should not be married, the person should “speak now or forever hold his peace.”

I’d like to pose a similar question about the development of American energy resources: Is there any good reason why we shouldn’t use domestic energy that is so readily available? There is much said about the need to wean ourselves from the use of foreign oil. That makes sense. But it would be equally sensible for our government to look for domestic resources to replace what we currently purchase from abroad.

It seems, however, that the liberal Democrats in Congress have a different idea. They really think that windmills and solar panels can reduce our dependence on foreign oil. That is a terrible misconception. Solar and wind power will never meet our transportation energy needs. In fact, oil may continue to be the dominant energy source until the year 2030. So, it becomes clear that a reliable supply of oil must be established for the American consumer.

Recently, the U.S. Geological Survey revealed that the Chukchi Sea, just northwest of Alaska’s landmass, holds 1.6 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered natural gas and 83 billion barrels of undiscovered oil. As the June 1 edition of the Investor’s Business Daily observes, that’s 30% of the world’s supply of natural gas, and 4% of global oil reserves, respectively. Tapping into those massive reserves would go a long way in establishing a dependable supply of domestic energy, as well as removing threats to our national security. We would no longer be held over a barrel, so to speak, by OPEC, the oil cartel whose membership includes several countries which are hostile to the United States.

I’m reminded of the Biblical story about the man who found a buried treasure in a field. Upon the discovery, he promptly sold everything he had to raise enough money to buy the field. In buying the field, then, the treasure belonged to him. He had sense enough to realize that the treasure was worth more than anything he had ever owned before. So, it was no big sacrifice to sell his posessions to be able to buy the land.

If only our government had the same kind of vision. Apparently, the liberals don’t value our natural resources. If our government doesn’t secure the oil and gas in the Chukchi Sea, the Russians will likely seize it. The Chinese are already moving in on oil reserves discovered off the coast of Florida. Foreign countries are determined to hoard oil supplies wherever they are found. But what is our current administration’s response? It suggests that we paint our roofs white, to make our homes more efficient.

Brilliant!