Cash for Clunkers Program Goes Clunk

A $2 billion infusion apparently has rescued the much-touted Cash for Clunkers program.
When I heard the program was in trouble because of lack of funds, I admit I blamed the incompetent government. And I still do.
Here's why: Even without the most sophisticated financial prediction software, some finance or business or economically-minded individual or group should have figured out "Best Case Scenario" and "Worst Case Scenario" in a spectrum of possibilities for how much the program would eat up. For example, let's say there are 1 million car owners in the United States (in total). (That's just a figure I pulled out of the air, it comes from no reliable data. It's purely for example purposes).
Of 1 million total car owners, how many own a vehicle that could potentially be traded in under the Clunkers program? Let's say it's 250,000, again, just for argument's sake and pulling the figure out of the air.
That is the potential of the program. So we take 250,000 and multiply that by $4,500 and that gives us the figure of how much we could possibly spend on this program.
I didn't need my degree in economics to figure that out. That's just pure common sense. So at the high end of our "spectrum" anyone in Washington (the Congressional Budget Office, for example) could figure out, "Hey, this could cost us X amount. How will we finance this?"
You just don't give some knee-jerk reaction that "Oh, no! Too many people are taking advantage of this program and we don't have enough to fund it."
It should have been thought through. Trust me, they have the data that shows them the number of car owners in the United States. They also have the data that shows them vehicle age, etc. It won't be a perfect data set (none ever is) but it's better than flailing.
The plan wasn't thought out, and I hope it's obvious that the government is being irresponsible in an economic time when financial irresponsibility can be catastrophic.
Oh, and we're going to trust the government that did this with our healthcare?

Another Burns Documentary

I love a great documentary, and I especially admire the work of Ken Burns, who (no pun intended) hit it out of the ballpark with a mesmerizing documentary on the history of baseball, simply titled, "Baseball." "Baseball" is roughly 16 years old now, but its story is timeless.
Burns is back this September, now with a documentary on the National Park System of the United States. "The National Parks: America's Best Idea" begins airing on PBS on Sept. 27.
I admit, I'm partial to anything that encourages exploration of the U.S. park system. I think it's miraculous and wonderful. (It is one of my life's goals to visit each national park in the U.S.)
Jane Q and Joe Q Public need to understand that these havens didn't just happen; they came about because of the work and sacrifice of individuals.
Burns will highlight this. If his work on "Baseball" is any indication, the product will be outstanding and truly engaging.

A bellyful!

We're plugging along! Now, at 30 weeks pregnant, we are in the home stretch! Olivia is due to arrive on or around Oct. 5.

RIP Michael Jackson

Today is Michael Jackson's memorial service. I have made jokes about his death, of course, but I am sad that this icon is gone.
There are people in life who take us outside of ourselves and give us reason to believe in magic.
As for all the allegations and media coverage about what went on behind closed doors, the ultimate truth is that no one knows what went on between Jackson and the children involved in those lawsuits, except Jackson and the children themselves.

What is a Ponzi scheme?

Bernie Madoff ran a Ponzi scheme. Essentially, what this means (in an overly simplistic explanation) is that he relied on money coming in from new investors or money from old investors to assuage all investors.
He never was making money on the money these folks were investing, but stealing from Peter to pay Paul.

Madoff sentenced to 150 years

He's sorry now, apparently.
I theorize that he is sorry he was caught. There is a big distinction there.
But this is the big news today. Madoff didn't make off.

Feature on the Cleveland Clinic

This is an interesting feature from CNN on how the Cleveland Clinic is managed.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/06/19/sotu.cleveland.clinic/index.html