Government, media promoting scams

By William R. Toler

It seems there have been a number of scams in order to rip off the public in the past several months. But these scams are actually encouraged and promoted. The government even had its hand in one of them.

During the Cash for Clunkers scam, motorists were encouraged by the government and the mainstream media to turn in their older vehicles for up to $4500 cash for the purchase of a new, fuel-efficient car. There were several problems with this deal.

First off, dealerships had to pay the cash out of their own coffers, to be later reimbursed by the government after filling out convoluted paperwork. As of Sept. 11, only 40 percent had been paid back.

Second, it was just unneccesary government spending that created a false spike in the economy. I guess Congres decided to follow the old adage, “You have to spend money to make money.”