Monday, November 2nd, 2009
Frank Rich compares Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin to “Stalin in full purge mode.” Way to out-cartoon the cartoonish, Frank.
Jimmy Kimmel asks real, live black people what sorts of jokes about Obama are acceptable. First video sort of sets up the premise. Second video is pretty funny.
Jacob Weisberg, who a year go predicted the end of libertarianism, now predicts success on three libertarian issues. (Okay, two-and-a-half. The libertarian position on gay marriage is more complicated.)
Cash for Clunkers has made it difficult to find inexpensive used cars.
How to maximize the battery life in your gadgets.
Via Andrew Sullivan, great Soviet war paintings.
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TheAgitator.com
I disagree that the “Cash for Clunkers” affected the supply of inexpensive used cars. According to the USDOT, the top trade-ins were Explorers, F-150s, Blazers, Grand Cherokees and C1500 pickups. These vehicles typically held their resale value. Hyundai, Ford Focus and other like inexpensive cars were not illegible for trade in, thus those older models are still out there.
What more likely is the culprit of the “lack” of inexpensive used cars is the economy. People tend not to give up their cars if they are worried about their job, can’t get credit, and are happy with their current fuel mileage in $2 + gasoline.
Mike, yes, the ‘top’ trade ins were the pickups and SUV’s, but there were plenty of older-model cars, 7-10 years old, that held low residual value but were still operational. Any vehicle at 10 years old, that’s not an acknowledged luxury brand, is going to have a low value.
The reports I’m reading from those who frequent used-auto auctions have been saying the prices for all the vehicles available are going up, because the supply is down.
C4C had to affect the used car market. You can’t just destroy that much value (yes, there is value in an old car) without it having an effect overall.
Cash for Clunkers definitely affected the resale market. This is econ 101. By limiting supply, prices go up and the people who get screwed are the poor. As usual.
Don’t worry, Democrats, they haven’t caught on yet, I doubt this latest debacle will clue them in.
Screwing poor people while pretending to help them is Democrat 101.
Re: Soviet War paintings.
Being something of a casual student of WWII and having read books and watched many documentaries about other moderns wars, I have thoroughly convinced myself that wars are rarely, if ever, started with freedom or national security or justice in mind. Those are merely manufactured disguises used to entice thousands of trusting citizens to mindlessly piss away theirs and their loved ones’ lives in the fight. Wars are really a product of egos intoxicated with power. It only takes one.
How many cars were traded in? How many of those would have been considered in the inexpensive account. Yes, I am aware of Econ 101, but was it 1 out of every 2 cars reclaimed? 1 out of 10? 1 out of 1000? There is some effect for sure, but I do believe the stronger effect is the overall economy. Had there been no CARS program, what would prices have done? Gone down, remain stable or gone up?
The soviet war painting were pretty cool. I guess they had their own Norman Rockwell over there.
Hmm,
1) Glenn Beck points out that Obama’s administration is full of self-avowed Marxists, Communists, and Chairman Mao fans (something proveable and yet to be disputed …. mostly resulting in Ad Hominem attacks against Beck).
2) Frank Rich calls Glenn Beck Stalin.
3) ???
Can we extend the Goodwin rule to Stalinism? There wasn’t much of a difference anyway…
Not until more people actually understand that there wasn’t a difference, Jozef. We’re a long way away from that.
Mike,
I’d have to say ALL of the C4C cars would fit this inexpensive category. Wasn’t that the whole point? Remember if you used the C4C program you were given $2500-$3500 instead of the cars tradein value not in addition to. So if the actual tradein value was $2500-$3500 you wouldn’t have bothered with the program especially with the uncertainty of it at the time. Heck if my trade in was worth $2K I still wouldn’t have bothered as a $500 dollar gain is nothing compared to the $20K in new debt for the new car.
Those paintings are amazing.
My personal favorite:
http://www.allworldwars.com/image/008/SovietPictures057.jpg
Kinda sad so many were in the service of such a brutal society.
From the Slate battery article.
“What we know about batteries today is pretty much what we knew about batteries back when ENIAC was invented.”
Oreally? Lithium Ion anyone?
Is the libertarian position on gay marriage really complicated? It seems pretty cut and dried to me, unless the complicating factor is opposition to the state being involved in any marriage.
Here’s my take on Beck:
Sure, he’s got a crazy personality, views on some things that I disagree with (as a libertarian), and a tendency to say the same things over and over again. But I like the fact that people are at least hearing someone say that bigger gov’t is not the answer. He’s getting people to actually leave their house to protest big government, and that’s a step in the right direction. I would love it if somebody with more “news cred” like John Stossel was out there getting people together, but I’ll take whatever I can get for now. Do I think Beck is the perfect person to lead an anti-big-government movement? Not at all. I do, however, believe that he’s doing about as good as we can hope for right now (considering how hard it is these days to keep the public’s attention even while quoting the founding fathers). Hopefully more people will realize the problems with our government and as progress is made new leaders can take over for Beck…but for now, he’s shaking things up.
Imagine having the choice between Hitler or Stalin.
Care JBlanton, that’s a sound argument I’ve made around here numerous times and heard nothing but Ad Hominem attacks against Beck in response ….. you’ve been warned. Good luck.
Imagine having the choice between Hitler or Stalin.
Many in Eastern Europe didn’t have to imagine. (It’s a stretch that they had a choice, though)
We are waiting for you, you red pest,
To deliver us from the black death:
A salvation to be welcomed with loathing…
We are waiting for you, power of the masses,
Dehumanised under the fist of your rulers.
We are waiting for you to crush us underfoot…
Do you know, hated redeemer,
The kind of death we wish on you,
And how we wring our hands in despair
Asking your help, you slimy slaughterers
Imagine having the choice between Hitler or Stalin.
There was a British diplomat who knew both and opined that he’d rather have spent a weekend with Hitler than Stalin because there was a better chance of coming back alive from Hitler’s.
Regarding Andrew Sullivan’s link to Soviet WWII art, I didn’t see a painting commemorating the cold-blooded execution of 22,000 Polish Army Officers at Katyn, ordered by Stalin in April 1940?
Mike Leatherwood: The C4C program was an “upper limit” program. Have a car with a $400 street value? You can get $4,500 for it at the dealership. Have a car that’s worth $4,000 street value? You can get $4,500 for it at the dealership.
There was no point in trading in cars that weren’t worth very low dollar values. And now there are 700,000 fewer of those cars available as drivers and parts vehicles.
Why do Democrats hate poor people so much? More importantly, why do poor people keep voting for them?
You know what, I didn’t see any paintings of the women in eastern Europe that were rapped by the by the dirty marxist soldiers.
Smaller government is always what republicans want when democrats are in power.
Beck generalizes about wanting smaller government between moments when he’s detailing what government should be doing to solve all the world’s problems.
I haven’t been watching him much lately. Since he moved to Fox has he stopped his incessant warnings about the need to bomb Iran? Does his idea of smaller government include giving up our role as lord protector of that strategically insignificant chunk of beachfront property known as Israel (aka: Occupied Palestine)?
The destruction of almost 700,000 RUNNING cars has certainly increased the price of used cars. It has also decreased revenue from car donation and car repair.
Dave, I can’t vouch for ‘old’ Glenn Beck, but since moving to Fox … almost everything he says sounds right out of a libertarian’s playbook …. I’ve heard nothing like what you’re saying.
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