[JJ]

next thing you know it'll be cash for Adult content deleted.
http://www.abc4.com/mostpopular/story/C ... J78Gw.cspx

[SeaGypsy]

Funny JJ when I read the topic I thought you might be setting up a second hand shop in the Philippines; an idea I have thought a bit about. Since the flat TV has taken over the old fat ones are left out on the road as junk; in PI these are still worth a lot of dough.

As for this being about the environment?! (fart noise)

The Australian Gov's relief package has worked better than anywhere else; they just gave us the cash and let us decide if it was for drugs or debt or whitegoods.

[JJ]

hey Seagypsy, one of my wifes' sisters is running a second hand clothing store in Pagadian City, seems to be working out pretty well...sent the kids there a playstation 2 once which they plugged right into the 220...ppppffffttttt...

[SeaGypsy]

Ha! Aussie is 240v so most electric crap from here works OK in PI.
The wet season can be a bastard though. Once took a computer over which worked fine then we went up to Baguio for a week when we came back, turned it on and pppffffssttt! It was so wet the floor went mouldy in a week also.

[eastbay]

Our 11 yo dishwasher finally broke a few weeks ago. We're going to wait for the free cash. Maybe the dishwasher replacement program will start in Fall. That's (spare) change we can believe in.

[AgentR]

Woohoo! Obama's gonna buy me a second refer!

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'B')efore heading home to face the anger at the now infamous health care "town halls," Congress rushed through an extension to what was then considered a popular program: Cash for Clunkers. Then, like much of the August break, Cash for Clunkers went sideways as critics picked apart the program's weaknesses, consumers stopped showing up with so many clunkers, and dealers started making noise about something as simple as when they might actually get the rebate money that the government promised.

So, what do you do when you have a poorly-conceived and ill-managed project winding down (Clunkers expires at 8 p.m. eastern on August 24)? Kick off another one, even more poorly thought out, and gloss it with an equally catchy name: Cash for Refrigerators. Beginning in the fall, consumers will have access - through existing state-level energy efficiency incentive programs - $300 million in stimulus funds made available as rebates for energy efficient appliances.

So far, so good. If a consumer is out buying an appliance to replace an existing or broken-down one, it is better that they choose an energy efficient model. But, what about special incentive program purchases? Who is the buyer and why are they buying?

The answer is that the most well-educated and most discerning consumers become aware of and make use of special rebate programs for energy efficient appliances. These are not impulse buyers. Some may actually be committed to greening their kitchen and just waiting for the right incentive push, but I doubt it. In other words, my perception is that most of the $300 million will go to middle-class households that already may have a relatively efficient refrigerator, like Clunkers, it won't get at the really dreadful stuff in use in the lowest income households.

Worse still, this program does not borrow one component from Clunkers that would actually have been effective: there is no requirement to take the old appliance offline. Odds are that many of the middle class households claiming the rebate will use the new appliance in the kitchen, and move the old one to the basement, the garage, or the back porch, where it will be pressed into service storing extra beer and the overflow from Costco. The old fridge remains on the grid and we add in the new appliance too. Does that sound like a good environmental deal?

[Tyler_JC]

My thoughts exactly.

We are essentially just encouraging MORE consumer spending. Didn't we already have three decades of excessive consumer spending? Why do we want to continue the same unsustainable economic model?

What happens in a couple years when everyone has all of the cars, refrigerators, and toasters that they need? How will we boost the economy then?

This isn't a long term plan, it merely pushes consumption of future years up to today. Unfortunately, we've already been doing this for decades. Rather than deflate the consumer bubble, we're trying to pump it up even further.

Washington can't think of anything other than spend, spend, spend. They don't have another plan. We've been doing it for so long that no one has any other ideas. We need to be encouraging savings and investment, not mindless spending.

Cash For Fridges is utter insanity and a sign that this country is in irrevocable decline.

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', 'M')y thoughts exactly.

We are essentially just encouraging MORE consumer spending. Didn't we already have three decades of excessive consumer spending? Why do we want to continue the same unsustainable economic model?

What happens in a couple years when everyone has all of the cars, refrigerators, and toasters that they need? How will we boost the economy then?

This isn't a long term plan, it merely pushes consumption of future years up to today. Unfortunately, we've already been doing this for decades. Rather than deflate the consumer bubble, we're trying to pump it up even further.

Washington can't think of anything other than spend, spend, spend. They don't have another plan. We've been doing it for so long that no one has any other ideas. We need to be encouraging savings and investment, not mindless spending.

Cash For Fridges is utter insanity and a sign that this country is in irrevocable decline.

[pup55]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')his isn't a long term plan, it merely pushes consumption of future years up to today.

[frankthetank]

I want a new chest freezer...

How do i get the government to pay for some of it? Also, we need a new stove. Ours is old and my son takes the knobs off while i'm cooking and sometimes i get mad and yell Want an electric convection with the knobs up high.

Reminds me of that "Reno 911" episode where they have "handjobs for handguns" campaign.