Bridge to Never-Never Land!

It is Monday, August 24, 2009. That would be correct although I’ve known some pretty happy people over the years who never seemed to have a clue about the date itself or what day of the week they were operating on. There may be a message somewhere in that approach to life. But not for me! My wife doesn’t understand why I need to be able to see clocks on either side of the bed throughout the night. I always check the time every so many minutes or hours and if I can only see the clock on one side then I have to sleep on that side only. Pretty simple, don’t you think? But in her way of looking at it she thinks perhaps I was wound backwards whenever they put me together. My response is this: Different strokes for different sleepers. (This could be connected to my fear of being late called Allegrophobia and I am sure this was caused by someone way back in my past and I will deal with them if I ever find out who it was!) Here’s some sad news to report today: The cash for clunkers ends today. Since only 145 million of the 3 billion has been paid out to dealers so far, my guess is that Hallmark will have a card to mark the occasion available in stores before our government can figure out how to administer this program. This is another great example of exactly why we should be happy to turn over healthcare to the feds, right?

Some dealers are owed as much as 1 million dollars and have had to take out a loan, I assume from a bailed out financial institution, at an unbelievably high rate to cover the cost of high bonuses and the paybacks to our government. The environmentalists are livid over this so-called environmental friendly promotion. The facts are that once you take into consideration the carbon footprint of the manufacturing process along with its workers to produce one of the new more fuel efficient cars, it will take five to seven years to recover that in the cost. This means that before real costs can be realized from the savings on fuel with better mileage, it will be time to tune in to the next clunkers promotion for it will be time to get rid of the new one you just bought. Our President said that having the system all mucked up because of demand shows that it is wildly successful and this is good news for a three billion dollar program, which should give us a real cause of concern when it comes to the trillions involved in healthcare. Recent statistics show that small companies with five or less employees have taken the hardest hit during this recession. Let me see if I have this right? Taking the clunkers off the road will destroy many of the small neighborhood garages where a mechanic or two hangs around to repair them, that makes really good sense, don’t you think?

I’m still impressed that President Obama uses the US Postal System as an example of how the government does things well. Our office manager told me Friday that a company we have done business with for years mailed a payment to us in June that we had just received. One could easily see this type of delivery to be an issue in an emergency room situation. Joking aside, what person with a modicum of mental mechanics would ever, under any circumstances, suggest our government as the source for a well run anything? I can remember back in the late 1960’s working at a military installation where we were urged to spend every penny in our budget on whatever we could find to spend it on so that we would at least get the same appropriation the next year. But I would no doubt be told that procedure only exists in very isolated cases. Call me paranoid but I did observe the exact same behavior while working for the US Air Force, the Veteran’s Administration, and the US Army. And, I was at the very bottom of the food chain, so just think what might be happening way up in that rarefied air where they do their budget planning while flying an executive jet provided by that favorite name we are all called by, TAXPAYER. I was somewhat dubious about the 10-year agreement between the Administration and the drug companies. This concession amounting to a reduction of 80 to 90 billion over the 10-year period by the drug companies was heralded by the media as an indication of our new President’s negotiating prowess. Next, I became even more curious why the drug companies are so strongly supporting this government run healthcare takeover. Now we know. The total amount that will be spent on drugs during the ten years in question is well over three trillion dollars. That great multi billion-dollar concession is slightly over 2%. Very interesting. Here’s how it goes: I will promise you three trillion dollars if you give me a 2% discount. Drug company response: Okay, Mr. President, but it sure will be tough. I will call a penalty on myself at this point because I have greatly exceeded my un-imposed time limit for one day, therefore, I leave you with the truth that we should always remember that ultimately it is all within God’s control and provision. Amen. Have a great workweek and may God bless. …..More later.