tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395646.post9097413125425069064..comments2024-03-06T19:21:15.708-05:00Comments on RealChoice: An offer I don't trustChristina Duniganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04785550737493692252noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395646.post-1809277145065997862009-08-17T17:53:09.114-04:002009-08-17T17:53:09.114-04:00People who can afford a new car aren't driving...<i>People who can afford a new car aren't driving true clunkers. They're driving reliable cars. And it's absolutely criminal to take those cars and destroy them, taking them away from people who would have been able to get jobs if only they had reliable transportation.</i><br /><br />Hear, hear!! If they had really wanted to "help the planet", they would have given vouchers to buy any reliable car, or any car getting more than X mpg, or any car that gets more than X mpg over your current car, or something. Now they have made the situation that much worse, because there is now going to be a lack of used cars trickling down to those who can afford to buy them, jacking up the price of them. Well, at least it looked good on paper.... {sigh}Kathyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10118292622669944944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395646.post-66055816086890150342009-08-17T07:37:42.936-04:002009-08-17T07:37:42.936-04:00Supposedly the idea is that the cars in questions ...Supposedly the idea is that the cars in questions are gas-guzzlers that need to be destroyed "for the sake of the planet".<br /><br />But what do they leave on the market? Even worse gas guzzlers.<br /><br />People who can afford a new car aren't driving true clunkers. They're driving reliable cars. And it's absolutely criminal to take those cars and destroy them, taking them away from people who would have been able to get jobs if only they had reliable transportation.<br /><br />I've looked up entry level jobs on the state job posting board:<br /><br />Restaurant workers -- Public Transportation Available: No<br />Baggers -- Public Transportation Available: No<br />Cashier -- Public Transportation Available: No<br />General Laborer Scrap Metal Handlers -- Public Transportation Available: (blank - description of job says "need to be dependable and have reliable transportation)<br />Cashier -- Public Transportation Available: (blank)<br />Call Center Support -- Public Transportation Available: Yes (but it's rotating shifts with evenings and weekends, which means that the person still can't use public transit exclusively, given the hours buses run in the area)<br />Telerecruiter -- Public Transportation Available: (blank) For this employer, it depends on where the person lives. People in the greater metropolitan area can commute for this job by bus; outside the greater metropolitan area, they could only get there one or two days a week)<br />Sales Associate -- Public Transportation Available: (blank) This employer is at the mall. Employees could use public transit to get either to work (evening shift) or home from work (morning shift), but not both ways because the first and last buses don't run to the mall until after the mall opens and before it closes; it's for the convenience of shoppers, not employees.<br /><br />So only ONE of those jobs is a job that a person without a car could actually get to.<br /><br />The bus routes and times are great for 5-9 office workers, but how many of them really ride the bus? Restaurant work, most retail, personal care, inventory, etc., require that the person either get to work before the buses run, or stay until after the last bus, if there is any bus transportation available at all. Some people have a commute of over 2 hours if they can take the bus, because of the way the hub system is set up. And "run more buses" isn't cost effective -- the buses are running mostly empty most of the time as it is. Private cars would be much more cost effective and actually burn less fuel. How "green" is it to run a huge bus for a long route in the city for 2 or 3 passengers?Christina Duniganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04785550737493692252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8395646.post-10107314701618044732009-08-16T22:14:40.956-04:002009-08-16T22:14:40.956-04:00they're proud of destroying cars that could ha...<i>they're proud of destroying cars that could have lifted poor families out of welfare</i><br /><br />I was just talking to somebody about this. Why destroy the cars? Wouldn't it be better to give them out to others w/o a car?TheChristianAlert.orghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03834633162196296344noreply@blogger.com