The socialist utopians of the Obama administration (and the Congress) are finding it increasingly difficult to implement their pet projects as the economic situation continues to fall apart around them, and their incompetence becomes more evident as each day goes by.

"With $24 TRILLION in taxpayers money either spent or pledged, on the bailout of a hopelessly bankrupt Federal Reserve System; with the President's health-care "reform" now seen by a majority of Americans as a scheme for euthanasia; with 48 of the 50 states bankrupt, and with no prospects of Federal assistance to avert massive austerity cuts; and with actual unemployment in the nation soaring far beyond the "official" 10% figure, this rage is going to only build in intensity over the remainder of the summer... The prospect that [his Jewish advisors] Larry Summers, Rahm Emanuel, or David Axelrod will come to their senses, go to the President, and urge him to make the needed changes, are zero." -- EIR article

The deceptively named "Cash for Clunkers" program is an excellent example of an ill-conceived socialist wealth transfer scheme, promoted in the name of the "environment", which benefits the few at the expense of the many.

The latest advertising gimmick at the car lot now features a late-model, perfectly good "eligible" vehicle (like a 2001 Cadillac Eldorado) stuffed nose-first into a trash dumpster. What message does that send to someone driving by who still makes a car payment every month on a vehicle worth less than the one in the dumpster?

Those vehicles, which would otherwise have gone to the working poor who could never afford the inflated price of a new car, will now be destroyed instead. In addition to the $5000 subsidy, how much does it cost the taxpayer to haul off and destroy the vehicle, so that the owner of a Cadillac Eldorado can enjoy a new car at their expense? While some other less fortunate person is deprived of the chance to have a car at all?

Why not put the shredders right at the end of the assembly lines instead, if this is the way to generate economic activity? There would be no need for those smelly trucks and trains to transport the vehicles to the dealers, and there would be "zero emissions" from the vehicles themselves. The factories could increase production and employment to any level desired, without concern about buyer finances or lack of demand. The workers could be housed in camps next to the factories, to eliminate the pollution caused by commuting. Their daily caloric intake could be carefully monitored to minimize waste...

Oh, wait. Didn't the National Socialists already try something like that a few decades ago, comrades?

"Obama's health-care policy advisor Ezekiel Emanuel announced a "complete lives system" for selecting who should live and who should die, in an article, "Principles for Allocation of Scarce Medical Interventions"... Emanuel was then appointed to the Federal Coordinating Council on Comparative Effectiveness Research, to begin the design of Federal health-care "reform". Emanuel writes:

"When implemented, the complete lives system produces a priority curve on which individuals aged between roughly 15 and 40 years get the most substantial chance [for health care], whereas the youngest and oldest people get chances that are attenuated." -- EIR article

Dr. Emanuel fails to mention that a "genuine scarcity" of health care can be manufactured even more easily than a mountain of shredded vehicles, in which case a lot of useless eaters over age 40 would face having their life prospects "attenuated" (i.e., reduced or eliminated) under his plan. It could be done effectively simply by restricting the supply of doctors, while increasing the costs imposed by lawyers and bureaucrats.

(Regarding EIR, their analysis is usually good even if we don't agree with their policy recommendations. --ed)