A capital idea! UPDATE–video added of the “Barney Frank SUV Buyback bill”
Mrs. See-Dub likes to watch the WSJ editorial board go at it on Fox News, and she mentioned to me that Dan Henninger had an especially good point. I don’t see a transcript of the show up on the archive, so I’m paraphrasing this and you’re getting it third hand.
Henninger wanted to know why, if we’re bailing out people who made bad decisions about a home mortgage, then there’s no reason to extend the same bailout consideration to other people who made a similarly bad investment–specifically, to SUV owners.
Why shouldn’t we bail out SUV owners? They knew their cars were gas guzzlers, but had no idea gas was going to be so expensive today back when they bought their cars. Hey, I got one back when gas was eighty-nine cents a gallon. But suddenly, I’m paying $4.45 a gallon to keep it running.
Mine’s paid off, but I’m still enduring an economic hardship because of a choice I made. Where’s my bailout? I’m a victim!!!!
Of course, Henninger’s remarks were tongue-in-cheek, as was mine. You drive your car, you takes your chances.
But in a bailout culture, how can you argue against that line of reasoning? How is an adverse decision about a car different from one about a house? Don’t both require the nanny state to intervene and insulate consumers from any consequences of their choices?
I hope Henninger turns that remark into a column, because that’s a winner.
UPDATE:
Blogger Lifetrek at Right of the Star was kind enough to Redlasso the Henninger clip. Let me see if I can embed it, ’cause it’s a hoot:
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{Post by See-Dubya}
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See-dubya, I grabbed the clip from RedLasso here.
David
I bought a house before I retired. Now that I’m on a fixed income maybe I should be bailed out too. I feel victimhood approaching.
Ouch, I bit my tongue while I had it in my cheek.
I think we should also take care of the people who do not change the oil in the vehicles or do maintenance and have car troubles. This it!
And if they do not take care of their teeth, we should make sure we get them new chompers. Yup.
And, and if they can’t get TV from their antenna, we should pay to make sure they can still get TV.
Sounds a lot like socialism to me.
My big German Shepherd eats more than my neighbor’s little Pomeranian, and that just isn’t fair. When I got the dog she was very tiny and cute and really didn’t eat that much. How was I supposed to know that she would grow so big? I could sure use some help with this expense… If we could get some government assistance then we could breed her and have some puppies! Puppies are soooo tiny and cute and really don’t eat that much…
My natural gas bill has increased, if I would have known that was going to bappen I would have bought an electric water heater and furnace, so where is my bail out?
Actually, soap, there is a government coupon program where people can get $40 (I believe) off of the box needed to convert their TV to digital. For some reason, I keep seeing commercials for that. I don’t have TiVo…can I get a little help from the governement too?
Victim-hood. Which amendment of the Constitution allows for this sort of Federal Government intervention?
I’m holding 10,000 shares of NYT stock. Where is my bail-out?
This is all a continuation of the welfare state that the U.S. has created. Pretty soon we will all be on welfare due to the government handouts. Who is going to be giving money (taxes) to the government when nobody is taking personal responsibility and getting handouts for all their bad choices? Let’s follow the Bible – If you don’t work, you don’t eat.
How about a Congressional bailout for those with high amounts of credit card debt?
No, no, no. On this site you’re an avaricious fool “who bought more car than you could afford.”
Still…no bailout for you! Next!
Oh, but you see, the Dems want to nationalize the gas/oil industry. That’s why they haven’t bailed out SUV owners yet. They figure if they can control that industry, prices will come down.
They are looking out for us!
Sorry, no bail out. But, just in case you forget, first you breathe in, then you breathe out. Repeat as often as necessary.
My dad just came up with a fantastic idea. How about a bailout for people who buy an SUV today?
Or for people who want to buy more than one?
My cat has diabetes, he gets two injections a day, can he go on Public Assistance so I can afford his meds?
If your kitty is under 25, D’ohbama will cover him under SCHIP.
Would that be cat years or people years?
He is a 10 year old (cat years) sweetie.
How about a bail out for my V-8 Mustang GT? I’m a of victim of high gas prices too. I deserve some of those Government hand outs, gimme mine.
Frankly, I’m more concerned about your insurance coverage. Anyone sticking a needle into a cat twice a day should have solid dismemberment and reconstructive surgery coverage.
OMG, folks! Let’s not give the DC moonbats any more bad ideas! Every time they try to fix something, it ends up worse than it was. They already hold a patent on “unintended consequences”!
Die Hippie, Die, I felt the same way when he was diagnosed, cause he has BIG teeth. You just lift the scruff at the back of the neck and, being careful not to go all the way thru, you inject and he doesn’t even know he had a shot. Funny thing is, when I yell medicine time, he comes running. Think he knows it is what is making him feel better.
I meant all the way thru so that it shoots out the other side of the scruff. Being a needlephobe, when he was diagnosed, I said , Oh Oh, Dead Kitty Alert.
Feed her the Pomeranian. She gets a good meal and Pam Anderson has a heart attack.
On July 7th, 2008 at 12:30 pm, DagneyT said:
‘Twas a joke. Unfortunately, you’re right. Someone would run with this.
Ronald Reagan once sais something like: “The most terrifying words in the English langauge are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help”.
Dear U.S. Government Bailout Acolytes:
It’s a backpack, not a parachute.
Regards,
The Nose on Your Face