It has been quite a while since I have blogged here. I have generally been sitting on the sidelines watching health care reform spiral out of control, banks taking TARP money then paying bonuses exceeding profits, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan rage on, Obama's birth certificate faux-controversy, etc, etc.

What I have witnessed was a small boon to the auto-industry. Basically, the "Cash for Clunker" program allowed consumers to trade in their gas-guzzling, broken down, or otherwise used car for a new one in exchange for a hefty government rebate. A fantastic plan, imo, that creates and/or saves jobs, gets some money back for taxpayers who now have a vested interest in the auto industry, and helps curb global warming.

The program was very successful. And we all know how we treat successful programs:

From MSN:

The government plans to suspend its popular "cash for clunkers" program amid concerns it could quickly use up the $1 billion in rebates for new car purchases, congressional officials told The Associated Press late today.

 The Transportation Department called lawmakers' offices to alert them to the decision to suspend the program at midnight Friday.

Through late Wednesday, 22,782 vehicles had been purchased through the program and nearly $96 million had been spent. But dealers raised concerns about large backlogs in the processing of the deals in the government system, prompting the suspension.

Bill Golling, owner of Golling Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., told the Detroit Free Press that his dealership had sold 80 vehicles already under the program.

 "It's working so well I've got people mad at me because I can't take care of them," he said.

 The popularity of the program raised concerns that with about 23,000 dealers taking part in the program, auto dealers may already have surpassed the 250,000 vehicle sales funded by the $1 billion program.

That's right, folks. In the midst of getting very little right under admittedly adverse situations, we get one program that works so well we have to scrap it. Such is the thinking in DC these days. We get what we pay for. Cash for Clunkers indeed.