Well, the election is finally over and the dust has settled. During the campaign, one of the other candidates for City Council, Hilarie Orman made a concerted effort to meet with every family in the the City. I really admire her effort and want to be sure her efforts are not wasted.
Hilarie has agreed to meet with me (and the other City Council members who are interested -- I assume all or most will be), and share some of the things she found in her visits with all of you. So I will be hearing from her some of your input. If you have other things you specifically wish to discuss with me, please drop me an e-mail or give me a call.
And thanks again, Hilarie. You're a great friend.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Cash For Clunkers
I recently received the following letter from our Utah State Representative, Mike Morley. I very much like what he says in this letter & wanted to post it here for you to think about.
CASH FOR CLUNKERS
Rep. Mike Morley
In July of this year, the federal government introduced their Cash for Clunkers program which would give new car buyers a discount of $3,500 to$4,500 on the trade-in of a qualifying vehicle. These vehicles had been deemed by the federal government to consume too much fuel or to emit an unacceptable level of pollution. By all accounts, the program was a success. After just one month, 700,000 “clunkers” had been traded in and the program was discontinued because the $3 billion set aside for it had been spent.
The auto industry loved the program. Consumers loved the program. Environmentalists loved the program. And we, the taxpayers? Well, not so much.
Just to give you some perspective, $3 billion represents about 25% of Utah’s annual budget. The federal government spent that on one programin one month. By some accounts, the fuel savings and decrease in pollution recognized will be relatively minor. What this program did was create a government-subsidized benefit for one specific group, much like the bank and auto industry bailouts earlier this year.
I was asked last legislative session to be the House sponsor for a housing subsidy bill. This bill, which eventually passed, gave buyers of new homes in Utah a $6,000 credit. The Senate sponsor assumed that because I was a builder, I would be thrilled to sponsor his legislation. He was wrong. I did not sponsor his bill and voted against it.
Government is not some faceless, all-knowing benefactor. Government is you and me, your family and your neighbors. Government is “We the People”. Any government benefit I or you receive is taken from the pocket of our neighbor. What gives government (us) the right to take from one person and give to another? Certainly, not the Constitution.
A new program was recently introduced for refrigerators. I would encourage each of us to consider carefully before participating. If you have any feedback or questions, please feel free to contact me at mikemorley@utah.gov or (801)636-0296.
CASH FOR CLUNKERS
Rep. Mike Morley
In July of this year, the federal government introduced their Cash for Clunkers program which would give new car buyers a discount of $3,500 to$4,500 on the trade-in of a qualifying vehicle. These vehicles had been deemed by the federal government to consume too much fuel or to emit an unacceptable level of pollution. By all accounts, the program was a success. After just one month, 700,000 “clunkers” had been traded in and the program was discontinued because the $3 billion set aside for it had been spent.
The auto industry loved the program. Consumers loved the program. Environmentalists loved the program. And we, the taxpayers? Well, not so much.
Just to give you some perspective, $3 billion represents about 25% of Utah’s annual budget. The federal government spent that on one programin one month. By some accounts, the fuel savings and decrease in pollution recognized will be relatively minor. What this program did was create a government-subsidized benefit for one specific group, much like the bank and auto industry bailouts earlier this year.
I was asked last legislative session to be the House sponsor for a housing subsidy bill. This bill, which eventually passed, gave buyers of new homes in Utah a $6,000 credit. The Senate sponsor assumed that because I was a builder, I would be thrilled to sponsor his legislation. He was wrong. I did not sponsor his bill and voted against it.
Government is not some faceless, all-knowing benefactor. Government is you and me, your family and your neighbors. Government is “We the People”. Any government benefit I or you receive is taken from the pocket of our neighbor. What gives government (us) the right to take from one person and give to another? Certainly, not the Constitution.
A new program was recently introduced for refrigerators. I would encourage each of us to consider carefully before participating. If you have any feedback or questions, please feel free to contact me at mikemorley@utah.gov or (801)636-0296.
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