crash4clunkerCash for clunkers? They have got to be kidding! The full and applicable program subsidized from the Obama Government to allow older cars to be traded for newer ones with up to $4500.00 in federal money has hit the wall in less than week!? Less than a week!

Despite the EPA mileage changes for formerly qualified vehicles, it ran out of money. Despite the incomplete but cautious  information available before it was implemented, it ran out of money. Before the ink was dry on Obama’s signature, it ran out of money!

And this is the same bunch that wants to handle health care for Americans? How stupid do they really think we are? Sure, there are a bunch out there that are clinging to “Yes We Can” because they voted and won’t let go of the propaganda of change simply because Obama said it. There is another bunch clinging to “Yes We Can” because it is their open door to get their fingers into the federal pie and the citizens’ lives. Thankfully, however, many who voted for this administration are beginning to wake up to just what has happened. The promises have been broken and the eyes are opening.

They passed the stimulus – did not read it. They passed “cap and trade” – did not read it. What happened to the five day promise? What happened to the transparency? Beltway “business as usual” as transformed into “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”.

“Cash for Clunkers” is merely an indication of what is in store if this administration continues to move at this speed and behind the veil of “Yes We can”. The lobbies in bed with these people (greendiot lobbies) are twisting the arms and pushing for every “live as we think you should” law they can get.

EPA banned reports on CO2, Congressional Budget Office figures disputing Obama health care promises, public town hall meetings where the President says he hasn’t read all the details…  Is this what was elected in November of 2008? Is this what we have to put up with until 2012?

Now is the time to pay attention and verify every statement, every promise that comes from anyone in Washington DC before our government becomes a “clunker” and we’re paying the “cash”.

ARCA Racing under way February 7 before NASCAR Bud Shootout
ARCA Racing under way February 7 before NASCAR Bud Shootout

Speed Week begins today. The NASCAR Budweiser Shootout is tonight. Will you watch? How about the “Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200” ARCA Series race that runs earlier in the afternoon? Maybe – Maybe not…? Yes, but only because it is on and part of the day of racing tied to the Shootout…? No…? 

Here’s the thing and I think it is important right now. It is no longer OK to just be a NASCAR fan or an INDY fan or a Grand-Am fan. It is time to embrace auto racing as a “whole package”. That means tuning into a race you might have skipped over in the past. That means packing up the car and heading out to some of those Saturday night races at the local oval. It also means showing support for these small teams and drivers that work the 40 during the week so they can run 100 laps on the weekend. It is time to become a RACING fan. Why…..?

Well, look around and get an eyeful of what is going on around you. Those folks in Washington, DC are about to sign off on what they are calling a “stimulus” package. Jimmy Dean has sold less pork in 40 years than the Democrats have packed in this thing in just two weeks. It is not just the bloated cost of wasteful Government expansion that we, as motor-sports fans, should be concerned with. There is a lot of pay-off money going to the so-called “green initiative” special interests for backing these nutjobs that have the nerve to call themselves “concerned” as leaders of our Country. Billions of dollars are going to “climate change” (formerly known as “global warming”) researchers and you can wager your Pit Pass that the “researchers” getting the cash are more concerned with agenda than fact. There are billions going to “renewable” energy research and development meaning bio-fuels and electrics. On the surface, that is a fine goal. However, look behind the curtain and you see the cost to convert crops to fuel is hardly easy or cost-effective and is not likely to be without huge subsidies. Not to mention the inflation of other by-products as more growers turn to selling for fuel rather than food. Hybrids and electrics are being developed and being forced onto the marketplace by growing Government mandates on MPG minimums. On the surface, again, a fine idea. However, nobody is talking about what to do with discarded batteries at the end of their run or the environmental impact of creating batteries in the first place. Billions of dollars of “stimulus” are going to wind and solar research. Fine. Billions are going into initiatives to force companies to go “green” or be “green friendly”. OK…  But here is THE question. If the goal is to get us away from dependence on foreign oil, why is there no real investment in this “stimulus” on finding, drilling and developing our own oil? Oil that we know exists. Oil that we can get to. Oil that is available to fuel our economy while also funding much of this “research” they are forcing our deficit dollars to pay for. Where is it in this bill, Mr. President? The answer is that it is not there because it upsets the very people they are paying off with our money.

But what does it mean to us as “racing” fans? It means that billions of our tax dollars are being spent, and given to, people that hate and loath the sport of motor racing. They look at it as a big waste of fuel and a stain on the “environment”. They see all of us as un-educated rednecks with bellies full of beer and trailers surrounded by junkers on blocks. They do not see the innovation from the sport that has made every modern car on the road safer and more efficient. They do not see the college degrees, the engineers, the artists and talented from all ways of life in the garage or the stands. All they see is cars going in circles spewing filth in the air.

That is why it is time to support your sport. Go to the local track. Watch a race series you might otherwise skip over. Grow the numbers, grow the support, grow the sport. They will come after the sport of motor racing. It is only a matter of time.  They will legislate it out of existence by making it harder and harder to operate. They have a mission to force everyone to live within the parameters they set. And don’t be fooled into thinking it is “for our own good”. It is for their consolidation of power.