Stan Geiger

Clunker Stupidity

Last week, just before the announcement that cash for clunkers would be abruptly terminated, I watched some early-morning network news reports on the matter. The networks tried very hard to paint a positive picture. But the stats I heard thrown about were pathetic.

GM headed the big news of the day. It announced it would add 60,000 cars to its production for the year and hire back a whopping 1,350 employees.

I didn't find it all that surprising that a company that had come close to vaporizing, and had just exited a bankruptcy that allowed it to dump billions in debt, would add a very small number of cars to its production and hire back a very small handful of employees. But, according to the networks, cash for clunkers made that happen. Uh-huh.

A GM executive said no company had benefited more from cash for clunkers than General Motors. How in the hell he could make that statement is beyond me. Of the top five sellers under cash for clunkers, GM had none. Ford had one. The other four were Japanese models.

Probably the most disgusting stat I heard mentioned concerned the number of cars sold under cash for clunkers that were manufactured overseas. Of the top ten models sold, 46 percent were manufactured somewhere other than the U.S.

I saw a report in which a government official was asked why the cash for clunkers program wasn't limited to U.S. automakers. He said many foreign cars are manufactured in this country. So much for his load of dung.

And now the final insult added to the injury. This morning, NBC reported Toyota---the biggest beneficiary of cash for clunkers---will close a manufacturing plant in California putting 4,500 American jobs at risk.

I'm so sick of foreigners. I'm so sick of hearing of them take advantage of us. And more than that, I'm sick of watching our supposed "leaders" in Washington sell us out to foreigners. I'm so sick of it I could puke.

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