The latest government stimulus program, Cash for Clunkers, or CARS, seems to have been a hit. Already the program is out of money to continue dealing. Or so has been reported by the news outlets.

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This video is extremely entertaining w/ its tongue-in-cheek rendition of Obama the luchador who's come to save the day. We have to get our laughs somewhere; I guess it'll have to come from this sarcastic animation, because we'd probably all start crying were we to focus too much on reality.

Update

After listening to, reading, and watching a talk by Elder Dallin H. Oaks called "Where Will it Lead?", I decided that the content of this video, though hilarious, was not very respectful. Making fun isn't constructive, though it may be entertaining for the moment. Elder Oaks had concerns in four areas of public policy:
1. The focus on rights and diminishing of responsibilities
2. The dwindling readership in books and newspapers
3. What is taught and what is not taught in education
4. The mistrust and lack of respect for public officials
I figured my recommending of this video was in violation of numero 4, so it's gone. I'm sure we'll find plenty more to entertain us.

"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it." -- Dr. Adrian Rogers, 1931

Let all have the opportunity to find financial success. Let them grow from it. Let those that give forth the effort enjoy the fruits. Everyone learns from cause and effect. Effort does not always equal results, life is clear enough on that count, but government should not reward no or little effort with results. Mediocrity should not be rewarded unless that is the destination that is being sought. Self reliance is prerequisite to real freedom.

"We can all sympathize with good folks who can't pay their bills. But as I've said repeatedly in my criticism of the mortgage entitlement mentality embraced by both parties in Washington, home ownership is not a civil right -- and neither is home retention. Artificially propping up the housing market will only result in more of the same costly borrow-spend-panic-repeat cycles that got us into this mess in the first place. Failing corporations need to fail. So do failing home borrowers. This is borrowing from frugal renter Peter to pay profligate Paul's home loan." -- Michelle Malkin, from article "ACORN and Obama -- together again"

Rewarding bad behavior will just breed more bad behavior. I have a hard time seeing how this will be helpful to anyone. Some say that it's a short-term unfairness that will stabilize us long term. I personally doubt this, as people will remember those that would have fallen but were then artificially propped up. And as in rock climbing, you can make a lot more risky moves knowing your on belay rather than free-climbing.

In the most recent issue of InformationWeek magazine that I recieved (Feb 16, 2009), Rob Preston (editor) had a great little column that can be found here.

The whole issue and the article talked about Obama's pending appointment of a new national-level CTO (chief technology officer).

What impressed me the most is Rob's abandonment of what could potentially be his and his audience's techy interests and treatment of the big issues that seem to be affecting one and all -- namely, economic and money issues. He hit some points so squarely that I'm including a few excerpts...

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And article...

I have a hard time getting excited about the stimulus bill currently being circulated through Congress mostly because it is such a large chunk of spending. This chunk is pulled out of the air (foreign debt), creating an even bigger hole for us to fall into later. And, if we're going to ever get national spending under control and pay off national debt (is anyone really thinking that'll ever happen), then this just makes it harder.

The market goes up and down. Greed and lack of integrity (among other factors) have led to a bubble. Now, the market is attempting to reset. As if in denial, and seemingly only worried about short-term gain, we're trying to feed the bursting bubble. And if it turns out that the market really needs to reset and the strain on the economy proves too much, we've just farther to fall.

Brother Romney makes some good points in his address. What happens when our debts outweigh our value (or are we there yet?)? It seems our government can't function without incurring more debt (just as many Americans seem to think themselves entitled extravagant living -- maxed out credit lines -- and yet it seems the government is mimicking the collective problem of many of its citizens -- maybe the children learn from the parents). What happens when no one wants to lend to us for fear of not getting repaid?

Anyways, wise counsel (prophets) says stay out of debt. And if the dollar is heavily devalued, wise counsel (prophets) also says have a year supply. And still wiser counsel (the Lord) says retire early. And so, wan an!