Icewind's Ramblings

Crazy here in Anchorage with a little snow, the Iditarod start and working on the shower all weekend so not much time to write so I’ll post this one that I saw on Grouchy Old Cripple (GOC) site and could not resist replaying it here. I didn't check the numbers, but even so, CFC was a liberal wet dream and I know how liberal wet dreams always turn out.  They waste money and don't accomplish much.  In fact, they usually make things worse. A 15 mpg clunker that travels 12,000 miles a year uses 800 gallons of gas a year. A 25 mpg vehicle that travels 12,000 miles a year uses 480 gallons a year. So, the average Cash for Clunkers transaction will reduce US gasoline consumption by 320 gallons per year.  (Actually, I think it saved even less than that...GOC) They claim 700,000 clunkers were turned-in, so that's 224 million gallons saved per year. That equates to a bit over 5 million barrels of oil. 5 million barrels is about 5 hours worth of US consumption. Mor...

How are we doing? With health care and the struggling economy on the minds of most Americans right now I wanted to think back almost a year ago and see if you come up with the same answer I did about our first out of the box stimulus program.  Remember Cash for Clunkers ? Question? What was the most positive result of the "Cash for Clunkers" program? ANSWER: It took 95% of the Obama bumper stickers off the road. With many people still out of work it is now probably about the time that all of those vehicles are being repossessed and a second round of ‘deals’ can be had by those lucky people who get a second chance for those vehicles. Living the Life now, aren’t we? Ice

Last week there was the big news that Oprah is retiring from her talk show after 20 + years giving everyone information, book reviews and an occasional prize or two for her loyal fans who were in the studio to see her. Over the years she has tried to stimulate the economy as in the big car giveaway to her audience in 2004 where everyone in her studio opened a gift box with the key to a new automobile inside.  She was helping the auto industry long before they needed their bailout.  Probably better than that forty five hundred bucks the Government gave out. Has anyone ever heard of writing off charity on your taxes?  Hmmmm . . . pretty sure you can or put it as a “business expense.”  In 2008 she made 385 million dollars . . . that could potentially buy 1,428 people a new Cadillac Escalade while still having 285 million left over . . . so essentially she could afford to have all of us drive a new car with enough left over to buy plenty of Black Angus burgers and...

Politics lately have been really boring with all the in fighting between all parties on almost any talking point.  No one is happy about the Health Care proposals and the stimulus money is being squandered away like many people thought it would be with little oversight or accountability. The economy is in disarray with the jobless rate continuing to rise “as things are getting better” and the vehicle rebate program flooded the nation with scrap metal and the upcoming wave of repossessions as those who traded in cannot afford to make the payments. “Change” was promised and that is what we have received . . . like it or not. I am into being positive each day and sometimes you need those little positive affirmations to set the tone for the upcoming day.  Tony Robbins says those things help break the cycle of negativity and can change habits and thought processes. Here is my daily routine when I get up in the morning before heading off to work.  I grab my cup of coffee...

We have all by now seen that a jump start to help the economy was needed and the Federal ‘Cash for Clunkers’ Program seems to be filling the bill as many people are going out and trading in their older vehicles. There has not been many things to bring a smile to our faces and to me this program may not be all that it is cracked up to be with the Government borrowing another 2 Billion dollars from China to keep the program going a little longer. That really makes no sense to me as that money just flows through the car dealerships and back out the door overseas since there is no limit on just USA made vehicles. If we at least Buy American the money can stay in America where we can benefit from the sales. I am not a big fan of the UAW but at least they can keep working producing over priced gas guzzling vehicles. A man who is having gas problems explains to his doctor that every time he farts it sounds like Honda. The doctor does an examination and finds ...

* Warning rant ahead, bifocals optional. I’ve been out of town lately so I have been somewhat lacking in the news department for the last month so when I started to catch up on a few things I was blown away about a few things. Probably many of you were too. Turns out AIG again took millions of dollars of the bail out money the Government gave them and paid more executive bonuses. Now this is the second set of bonuses paid since the financial collapse started. One guy received six million dollars. I read that over fifty others got more than a million. All right, it is an outrage. But wouldn’t you want to work at a company that rewards failure on a historic level with million dollar bonuses? I don’t know about you but I have never screwed something up on a job to the point where we had to go beg the Government for financial help three times and then the boss sat down with me to write a giant check. I wonder what you get for doing your job really well...

“The problem with Socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.” --Margaret Thatcher The $827 billion stimulus package is full of earmarks that probably won’t stimulate the economy. The new bank bailout package was just announced and the markets took another dump. Confidence in the new changes . . . I’m not feeling too warm and fuzzy right now. Ice

Well they (the government) has given the auto industry a few billon dollars now and so far I haven’t seen any real change here in Alaska . The new administration has put out a few new requirements on auto makers to force them to make more fuel efficient vehicles which should have happened ten to fifteen years ago. It may be that they are wasting spending our money on goofy or totally useless things. It used to only be car commercials that went into the absurd. We have all of those Cal Worthington Ford Commercials here and on the West Coast which over the years has always been over the top or just plain annoying. Now it seems every commercial has that not so subtle message they are trying to drill into your brain. You know what message. You are not only making a life altering decision when you purchase your car, but you are also stating to the world (indirectly bragging) your individualism with your choice. Your life will not only be richer and better no...