Correspondence with Russ Feingold

I sent the esteemed senator a message via his web site, telling him not to vote to extend CARS, among other things. Here is what I wrote:

Hello,

A few reminders for you.

First: Sonia Sotomayor is not to be approved for the Supreme Court. Anyone so often reversed is thinking wrong. and her racist comments show her to have the wrong 'stuff' for the job.

Second: No more bailouts - for any reason. The current 'stimulus is an unmitigated disaster,
and throwing more money at problems will just make them worse.

Third: No 'cap and tax'. Glowbull worming is being shown to be a fantasy of Al Gore and his one-world would be dictators. Do the right thing and reject this idiocy.

Fourth: It's redundant to mention, but the 'cash for clunkers' program is another disaster, with unintended consequences that will cause untold pain to our citizens in the future. No more money there, either.

And last, but most important. The federal government has shown it's ineptitude over and over again in the realm of heath care, and ObamaCare is totally out of the question.

Remember who pays YOUR salary - and health care benefits - and will pay for your quite ample retirement.

And remember who you work for. Hint: it's NOT Obama.

Regards,

Chuck Kuecker

Here's his reply, in it's entirety.

Dear Mr. Kuecker,

Thank you for contacting me regarding "cash for clunkers" legislation. I appreciate hearing from you.

As you may know, the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) was created by the Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Act that was signed into law on June 24, 2009. This program provides a voucher worth either $3,500 or $4,500 for car owners whose present car gets 18 miles per gallon (mpg), or less, in fuel efficiency when they trade it in for a new, more fuel efficient alternative.

Dealers began applying for the vouchers on July 28th, and because of extreme interest, the program's $1 billion in funding was being used up quickly. On July 31, 2009, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2435, to provide $2 billion to continue the CARS program. The Senate passed H.R. 3435 on August 6, 2009, by a vote of 65-37. It was signed into law by the President on August 7, 2009.

I supported the extension of the CARS program, which is better known as "cash for clunkers" because, while not perfect, CARS has encouraged Americans to trade in their older and less fuel efficient vehicles while boosting new car sales and helping to revive local economies in Wisconsin and around the country. As a leading advocate for increased fiscal responsibility and deficit reduction, I am pleased that this bill utilizes $2 billion in existing funds made available previously with the enactment of the economic stimulus legislation earlier this year, rather than utilizing new funds and contributing to our growing national debt.

I am also pleased that the Department of Transportation (DOT) has fixed one problem it created in implementing CARS. When Congress created the CARS program, it fully intended to ensure that consumers across the country who are in compliance with the statute's requirements, including provisions related to car insurance, be allowed to participate in the CARS program. The DOT issued a final rule on July 24, 2009, that set the guidelines for the CARS program, including a requirement that individuals who wanted to trade in their vehicles had to demonstrate proof of car insurance for at least one year prior to the trade-in. This provision conflicted with statutory language stating that a trade-in vehicle be "continuously insured consistent with the applicable State law." Currently, Wisconsin and New Hampshire do not require individuals to purchase car insurance.

I was joined by members of the Wisconsin and New Hampshire delegations, as well as some of the leading authors of the CARS legislation, in a letter to the DOT urging the correction of this misinterpretation of the law. I also spoke with DOT Secretary Ray LaHood about this problem and was pleased that the guidelines were quickly corrected. Trade-in vehicles in Wisconsin are now exempt from the one-year insurance requirement, thereby ensuring that Wisconsinites who meet the CARS program's other eligibility requirements can participate in the program. While all Wisconsin drivers will be required to have car insurance beginning in June 2010, this action by the DOT is a sensible fix for Wisconsinites who are in compliance with state law and who seek to participate in this temporary program.

Trade-in vehicles must be less than 25 years old and have been continuously registered for the full year preceding the trade-in. Trade-in vehicles must get 18 mpg or less in fuel efficiency, as determined by the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) mileage criteria. The EPA worked to update the fuel economy data for possible trade-in vehicles, and issued the new data on July 24, 2009 - the same day that the CARS final guidelines were issued. According to the EPA, "of the 300,000 vehicle model types spanning 25 years, 78 cars no longer qualify, but 86 new vehicles are now eligible."

Trade-in vehicles are required to be crushed or shredded so that they may not be resold for use as an automobile. However, the entity destroying the vehicle is allowed to sell any part of the vehicle, other than the engine block or drive train, and retain the proceeds from such transactions. For more information on the program and how you can obtain the rebate, please visit http://www.cars.gov/. I hope you find this information helpful.

Thank you again for contacting me. For more information about my work on behalf of Wisconsin, you can subscribe to my monthly e-newsletter by visiting http://feingold.senate.gov/newsletter.cfm. I look forward to hearing from you in the future.

Notice how he ignored most of my points, and just told me how great CARS is? Not one word about OsamaCare, or 'cap and tax'. Ignore it, and maybe I will be stupid enough to not notice that he did so?

I wonder how much the aide that wrote this 'personal reply' is paid hourly.

UPDATE: Just sent him this:

Hi, Russ,

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, you forgot to answer most of my points.

I still want you to NOT spend any more of my descendant's future in a futile scheme to prop up our dying economy. The only way out of the mess is to STOP spending, STOP borrowing, and STOP destroying our business basis with pie-in-the-sky stuff like the 'cap and tax' Al Gore enrichment bill, the ObamaCare health care destruction bill, and ever more money for destroying cars that morally should have been made available to needy people.

As far as your comment about the 'destroyer' being allowed to sell any part of the car except those parts that have value, this just proves to me that you have no common sense.

When is your term in the Senate up? I want to be sure to get as many of my friends and neighbors out to vote for your opponent. Maybe we will get someone with a true concern for Wisconsin, and America.

Chuck