Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., has been of two minds about the whole “cash for clunkers” idea, co-sponsoring a “budget-neutral” Senate version in May, voting against a bill in June and then voting last week to add $2 billion to the rebate program. About the latest vote, Brownback told The Eagle editorial board through a spokeswoman: “I would rather the deficit be reduced but that wasn’t the choice. The choice was funding more government buildings or stimulating car sales. I supported stimulating the economy rather than stimulating even more the federal government.”
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17 Comments
Is Brownback planning to return to Kansas so he can hate the state government as much as he claims to hate the federal government?
Say “No” to Brownback!
Not allocating money to the Clunkers program wouldn’t reduce the deficit since it’s merely being transferred from other programs.
Brownback isn’t exactly a fan of reducing the deficit since he voted to fund the unwanted, unneeded, and easily malfunctioning F-22a program.
So, Brownback was against the Clunkers before he was for it?
The “cash for clunkers” program is basically being financed by loans from China and Japan and other buyers of U.S. treasuries. I suppose that Japan at least, receives some payback, in addition to 5% interest into perpetuity, by selling more Japanese made automobiles to Americans.
In plainer language, the “cash for clunkers” program is basically a fraud on Americans.
This gives me an opportunity to say once again … America’s politicians just DON’T get it. Most of the government’s programs to stop the meltdown of our economy involve “money changers” of the type Jesus ran out of the temple.
The is only one way America and the world’s downtrodden populations will begin to throw off the shackles of a world wide recession if not depression. That is, GO TO WORK producing things of real value to each other.
Running businesses that are in effect “money changers” just puts off the inevitable and produces nothing of value.
Borrowing money at one interest rate and loaning it out in pretty packages/schemes with colorful bows tied around it … produces nothing of value.
The cash for clunkers program is an example.
Politician’s rants from Washington DC are another example.
Transfering manufacturing to other countries and handling the financing from here doesn’t get it either.
So it’s time for America to bite the bullet and actually go back to work.
LOL Brownback will never turn down an opportunity to dis dems, even when it comes to a popular program.
He’s just mad he didn’t think of it first. So now he’s pouting.
He sounds like a four year old.
Ah but the F22 was KANSAS pork, and you know Kansas pork is better than any other pork.
JWink
Posted August 9, 2009 at 9:51 am | Permalink
—
Great point. Work and production are the answers to America’s economic woes. Arbitrage is a way to hedge risk; it should never become the focal point of a nation’s economy. Unfortunately, we’ve sort of become a nation of financial engineers instead real engineers. It’s time we get back to work.
One quibble: the CfC program is not a permanent program (and yes I’m fully aware of the argument that there is no such thing as temporary government spending, that such always ends as a permanent program instead).
Cash for Clunkers is a temporary program designed to kill two birds with one stone: stimulate domestic spending through deficit spending, and weaning the US away from energy imports. My guess is that there are many Americans who would never have purchased anything but a big ‘ol gas guzzler if this program were not in place. This is Detroit’s shot to prove that a Big Vehicle is not necessarily a Good Investment.
One other small quibble: it’s a tax credit. This is otherwise known as a tax cut, something the GOP has offered up as the sole solution to everything from economic recession to hives. It’s just a little bit much, really, to hear the GOP whine about it now. In fact, if one were less generous than I, one might be led to believe the GOP is engaging in nothing more than political posturing over CfC. ;>)
“Borrowing money at one interest rate and loaning it out in pretty packages/schemes with colorful bows tied around it … produces nothing of value.”
JWink, you’re incorrect. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_creation for an explanation of how banks loaning money grows the money supply, and hence the economy. I suspect you know this already, though, but for political/blogging reasons, decided to engage in a bit of hyperbole.
Republicans are whining about everything the Democrats are doing but they fail to say why they never did anything about these problems when they were in control.
Republicans were in control of Congress from 1994 to 2006 and total control of Congress and White House from 2000 to 2006.
If Republicans care so much about these problems that Obama is now attempting to fix – then where were these Republicans when they had their chance to fix the problems?
Oh yeah, that’s right, they were too busy running up the deficit, handing no-bid contracts to their wealthy buddies in the war-for-profit, giving tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans, attempting to shred the Constitution and take away our basic freedoms, removing all banking regulations so Wall Street to use their greed to bring our country to its knees.
So, now, the Republicans are telling us they care about these problems and can do a better job than the Democrats?
They had their chance and blew it and screwed the rest of us while they were blowing it.
Just remember this vote when Brownback runs for Governor. Cash for clunkers hurts poor people very badly and if our government claims to want to help poor people, then this is a poor choice.
I even hear they are crushing the cars. Way to destroy wealth there.
Nicely said, “totoinks.”
Make no mistake totinks. The regulations that were in place were adequate enough to prevent Wall Street for bringing us to our knees.
The recession was coming no matter who was in office because the “fix” in 2001 sowed the seeds for this “fix” in 2009. Blame the federal reserve and wall street investment banks. The government are nothing but pawns for those groups.
Isn’t the irony of government trying to “fix” the economy that they will inevitably create the next bust with their current “fix”. Oh what tangled webs we weave.
“Austrian_Economist” –
You might remind “okobserver” and “minutelady” just which party “owned” the Congress, “owned” the SCOTUS, and “owned” the White House (and the entire executive branch charged with enforcing the “…regulations that were in place” back when the seeds were sown.
Nicely said, Monkeyhawk. I think okie and minutelady are one and the same.
Austrian Economist, exactly which regulations were in place are you referring to?
Were those the old regulations that Gramm, Leach and Bliley Act of 1999 changed dramatically? Or were they the new regulations the Republicans pushed through with the help of their lockstepping minions so that greed could run rampant throughout Wall Street and our economy?
When wealth and greed are the key words, the faces of Republicans pop up brightly glowing like a neon light.
Republicans spent money like it grew on Chinese trees and they did not care about no stinking regulations – they let greed take hold and then came to the taxpayers for bailout money when the party was over – and Bush gave it to them – over the phone and over the weekend!
Republicans are crowing about Obama’s approval rating dropping but have they noticed their own approval rating is way below Obama’s? The majority of Americans still do not trust the Republicans!!! And I would venture to say it is because of Republicans’ past behavior.
Austrian Economist – I understand the purpose of the Cash for Clunkers is two-fold – stimulating the economy and environmental. The crushing of these clunkers is so these gas-guzzling, pollution spewing cars are no longer on the roads. Thus, somewhere down the road the US can be less dependent on foreign oil and the environment might just be a little cleaner. (I know you wealthy people don’t care about a little thing like clean air – but the rest of us do)
And if anyone was going to donate their old cars to the poor people, then why dont’ they do it now? I don’t see too many people lining up to do that.
Besides, aren’t all poor people those too lazy to work? why would they need a car – at least, that is what I hear from all those Compassionate Conservative Republicans.
totolinks is on a roll. Go, bubba.
Dennis
And while I’m at it. Brownback is of two minds?
Come on.
He barely has one mind.
Dennis