$4500 VEHICLE PURCHASE BRIBE

Recently congress passed a bill that people are calling "Cash for Clunkers". I don't know the intricate details, but in essence this will provide a subsidy of up to $4500 to those willing to trade their car in for a more modern and fuel efficient car. From what I understand, the amount of the subsidy is in direct relation to the gain you would be getting in fuel economy by upgrading.

For example, I could trade my 87 Grand Wagoneer with it's 9-11 mileage in on a 2009 Ford F150 pickup with it's 17-20 mileage and possibly get the full amount. Where as most people would be looking at offloading something like a F150 in favor of a hybrid.

It is an interesting program aimed at both promoting new car sales and reducing fuel consumption. I see two problems with this, first is that most of the people who have an older cars have them for a reason. Either they can't afford a newer car or they are a collector. If they are in either category this $4500 potential will not do any good. A collector wont let you peal their fingers off with a pry bar and a poor person will not be able to make a car payment with or with out the $4500. Possibly the only people who this would really persuade are those who can afford a new car but for some reason have chosen not to, or people who have a extra car. If it is a extra car with worse mileage, then it is likely not to be driven daily. Will the person with the extra car really want to adopt a new payment? Will getting the parked car off the street really improve the parked cars emissions and fuel consumption?

I've always had a problem with vehicle buy back programs. My first car was a 1971 Mercury Monterey it cost about $350 . This was around 1989 and affordable cars grew on trees. Not long after that Shell Oil Co. started it's buy back program. They offered a $1000 dollar check for the 1970s and older guzzlers and then had them destroyed. This instantly set the price floor at $1000 for any older car. Young kids and poor could no longer afford to buy a car.

Where is the automobile historical preservation society? Even dining cars on trains have a group.

In the bay area of California the B.A.A.Q.M.D. currently has a buy back of $650. So there is a price floor for cars there. As if it is not expensive enough to live in the bay area. The B.A.R. has a program called V.A.V.R. (voluntary accelerated vehicle retirement). This gives older vehicle owners who's vehicles failed a smog check an opportunity to sell their cars to the government. In previous years, this would be an opportunity for a kid to buy a fixer upper at a good cost.

The B.A.R. realized recently that their V.A.V.R. was not working on the poor, because pass or not the poor need to drive something. So in an effort to curtail smog the B.A.R. offers to pay for up to $550 in smog related repairs for qualified owners. This one actually makes sense.


Closing:

I would say in closing that buy back programs may have some positive effect on the environment and may encourage car sales. At what cost to the poor and kids? How effective are they? What if they banned the drive throughs at fast food restaurants because of idling cars in the line? This could have a negative effect on the fast food industry and make getting a job harder for the kids and poor. These types of side effects should be taken into consideration when laws are made.

Introduction Continued

When I wrote my previous post, I was focused on Cedarpines Park because I always have to answer questions as to it's location when I mention it to people I run into. I completely forgot to mention the family.

My wife Sara and I got married on Halloween in 1998. We are now the proud parents of two boys, Dakota age 9 and Shepard age 5. Dakota will be going into the fourth grade and Shepard will be starting kindergarten.
I am a cnc machinist and am luckily kept very busy at an aerospace shop in Ontario. Sara was unfortunately laid off in November from her job where she handled the books at a auto accessory place affiliated with GM. She is enjoying her role as a home maker at the moment.

Introduction

Here I am on a cold June day (50 degrees). I'm more or less kept inside do to the dense fog and tree rain. Most people don't associate this kind of weather with Southern California. Who would have thought we would have a fire in the fireplace in June. Ironically, the forest service is battling a growing brush fire on the face of the mountain my family and I are trying to stay warm on top of.

I decided to start a blog in hopes that someone might find it interesting. This first entry is really nothing more than a trial run and more of an introduction to my self. My future blogs will be more of an opinionated and political nature.

I am going to answer one potential question right now. Cedarpines Park where we live, is the western most community on the mountain top in the San Bernardino mountains. If you start at the well know Big Bear and start following the mountain top around to the west you run through all sorts of cool mountain get away towns you may not have heard of.

Following the famous Rim Of The World Scenic Byway, you'd go through and see the names of places like Blue Jay, Twin Peaks, Lake Arrowhead and Running Springs. If you keep going and stay on the byway you would never know where we are and would miss out on the unique nature of our mountain community. Finally farther to the west, you are getting closer to us. If you divert off of the beaten path that the byway provides, there are more areas like Lake Gregory/Crestline where the county has paddle boats and fishing. Continue west and drive through Valley Of Enchantment and at the top of the hill you have arrived at Cedarpines Park.

We sit at about 5500 feet and the neighborhood streets curve all around and look off the mountain at various points to the south, north and west. Our house faces east which means out our back windows and from various locations around the property we get a nice sun set.

Why all of this useless information? Because I love my mountain and wanted to share it with you. My mentioning of the sunset was not any intention to gloating. We live in a small 900 square foot cabin built it 1934. To live here takes a serious commitment. Evey summer we are faced with the threat of wild fire and need to be ready to evacuate at any moment. In the winter we actually get one, unlike most of Southern California. But the truth is that by the time you get sick of the snow it melts. When it's not threatening to burn us down or freeze us, the mountain gives us thick fog that clings to the leaves on the trees and falls from there like rain.
It's not all bad though, probably 8 months of the year it is clear and blue. We are definitely above the smog line and the schools are certainly better for the boys. Unlike when we lived down in Colton the boys can play with the neighborhood kids and the neighborhood looks out for them. All of the parents here seem to take an active role.

Well that's enough for this week. The introduction is done. Hopefully I will get time to post something new once a week.