'Clunkers': Voodoo economics at best

Some of us mortals often wonder at the rationale our government leaders take into consideration when making decisions trying to steer our economy in the right direction. While many in the national level have impressive educational resumes, far too many never had any actual use of those credentials in the real business world that might now better guide them.

A good case in question is the recent "Cash for Clunkers" program. To begin with it would appear to have been more expedient to get John Q Public to pare down their outstanding consumer goods debts that is now leaving them with too little money to put back into the economy.

So why should we have been luring consumers to buy new cars only to pile more debt on what they already have? Many of the cars that were traded in and scrapped would have been purchased down the road by lower-income people who now will have to choose from more expensive cars putting additional strain on their already thin budgets. At best, the "Cash for Clunkers" program just created a flash-in-the-pan recovery for the presently poor auto market giving us a feast today and a famine tomorrow for both the seller and manufacturer.

But the real kicker is that many dealers did not give discounts with this program, and many participants bought foreign makes sending that stimulus money overseas while the $4,000 stimulus check is to be included as income in one's income tax return. This appears to be voodoo economics at best.

Walter Santi

Bloomingdale