Clunkers: Taxpayers paid $24,000 per car

http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/28/autos/clunkers_analysis/index.htm

Auto sales analysts at Edmunds.com say the pricey program resulted in relatively few additional car sales.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- A total of 690,000 new vehicles were sold under the Cash for Clunkers program last summer, but only 125,000 of those were vehicles that would not have been sold anyway, according to an analysis released Wednesday by the automotive Web site Edmunds.com.

Still, auto sales contributed heavily to the economy's expansion in the third quarter, adding 1.7 percentage points to the nation's gross domestic product growth.

Is the economy really getting better?
The Cash for Clunkers program gave car buyers rebates of up to $4,500 if they traded in less fuel-efficient vehicles for new vehicles that met certain fuel economy requirements. A total of $3 billion was allotted for those rebates.

The average rebate was $4,000. But the overwhelming majority of sales would have taken place anyway at some time in the last half of 2009, according to Edmunds.com. That means the government ended up spending about $24,000 each for those 125,000 additional vehicle sales.

"It is unfortunate that Edmunds.com has had nothing but negative things to say about a wildly successful program that sold nearly 250,000 cars in its first four days alone," said Bill Adams, spokesman for the Department of Transportation. "There can be no doubt that CARS drummed up more business for car dealers at a time when they needed help the most."

In order to determine whether these sales would have happened anyway, Edmunds.com analysts looked at sales of luxury cars and other vehicles not included under the Clunkers program.

Using traditional relationships between sales volumes of those vehicles and the types of vehicles sold under Cash for Clunkers, Edmunds.com projected what sales would normally have been during the Cash for Clunkers period and in the weeks after.

Edmunds.com's estimate of the ultimate sales increase generally matches what industry experts had thought, said George Pipas, a sales analyst with Ford Motor Co (F, Fortune 500). But that misses the point, he said.

"The whole purpose of the program was to provide some kind of catalyst to kick-start the economy," he said, "and by all accounts the extra production that was added this year was a boost to the economy."

0:00 /4:57Why I fired GM's CEO
Ford was one of the biggest proponents of the Cash for Clunkers program and several Ford models were among the top sellers under the program.

While auto sales in September were hurt because auto dealership inventories were drained of products by the program, sales this month are already back on track or better, Pipas said. "I think the October sales results will show Clunkers is behind us and there's no more payback or inventories issues."

Emunds.com's projection indicates that, without Cash for Clunkers, October's sales increase would be even higher.

Health Care Reform

http://www.takecarehealth.com/welcome-to-take-care.aspx

one way to reduce health care costs.

http://www.minuteclinic.com/en/USA/CA/Los-Angeles/Clinics.aspx

There are a lot things we do not need to visit a Doctor for and may things here is no need to bill an insurance company for a well.

click away your rights?

A'dal and his Naaru redeem Bridenbrad's soul and promise him "paradise eternal".

http://www.wowwiki.com/Crusader_Bridenbrad
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=13275812518&sid=1
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=16904076640&postId=169024784421&sid=1

just a little something to squirrle away

http://www.ci.la-habra.ca.us/article.cfm?id=280

http://republican.assembly.ca.gov/enews/eletter.aspx?Id=295

R.I.P. BRAD BRIDENBECKER
On June 21st, 2007, I requested that the California State Assembly adjourn in the memory of La Habra City Manager Brad C. Bridenbecker, who passed away on Monday, June 18th after a long battle with cancer. He was just 35 years young.

Brad grew up in Orange County, attended college at Cal Poly Pomona and grad school at USC. He started with the City of La Habra back in 1994 as a part-time intern and was steadily promoted through the ranks until his appointment as City Manager on June 16, 2002.

A number of significant projects in La Habra were completed under his leadership, including: Westbridge Plaza, Costco, La Bonita Park Phases 1 and 2, and the reconstruction of La Habra Boulevard.

Brad was diagnosed with cancer shortly after being appointed City Manager and worked continuously until taking a leave of absence in April of 2006.

Brad was a bright, capable and dedicated public servant, and wholeheartedly a family man. He loved being a dad and spending time with his wife, Beth, and two daughters, Victoria and Katie.

He will be sorely missed.

A memorial service will be held at 12 noon on June 28th at Our Lady of Guadalupe. Our Lady of Guadalupe is located at 900 W. La Habra Blvd. Please call (562) 691-0533 for more information.

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/local/brea_lahabra/article_1719556.php

LA HABRA — City Council members in a closed session Monday voted to name Don Hannah the new city manager.

He replaces Brad Bridenbecker who is retiring because of health reasons.

Hannah has been working with the city as in interim administrator for about a year and Mayor Jim Gomez said he was an easy choice because he is already familiar with the city's issues.

"It's a critical time in La Habra and it's important to have a leader with integrity and experience to move the city forward for future generations," Gomez said. "By hiring Don there won't be a learning curve… and we will save money."

The city manager is responsible for overseeing the city's day-to-day activities and hiring staff.

Hannah will be on a two-year contract and his salary and benefits are still being negotiated. As the interim city manager he was making $152,500.

Hannah said he looks forward to working with staff and the council to conquer challenges the city faces such as budget issues, economic development and public safety.

"Our job is to improve the quality of life in the community," Hannah said.

Bridenbecker's salary was at $160,097 before he opted to take a leave because of his health.

After maxing out vacation and sick time, he went on medical leave. After coming off medical leave, Bridenbecker took an administrative leave. City employees then decided to pitch in and covered about four months of leave out of their own pockets, Gomez said.

"Brad is a magnificent young man who contributed a great deal to our community," Gomez said. "We're just devastated that his health hasn't improved."

Bridenbecker will be retired as soon as his paperwork goes through, Gomez said.

"If his medical condition should improve, we will welcome him back with open arms," he said. "We all love Brad and would love to have him back here working at some capacity."

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/city-bridenbecker-manager-2202372-street-espinoza?orderby=TimeStampAscending&oncommentsPage=1&showRecommendedOnly=0

The "Boy Wonder" of La Habra, former city manager Brad Bridenbecker, may have left his friends, family and colleagues too soon, but his memory will continue to live on in a new way – as Bridenbecker Way.

Bridenbecker, who died last year of cancer at the age of 35, will have his name and memory honored with a street in the new Brio housing community across the street from the Children's Museum on Euclid Street, said Jennifer Cervantes, assistant to the city manager.

Having a street named for Bridenbecker is "a fitting tribute to this man who helped move the city in many ways," said Mayor Rose Espinoza.

Bridenbecker began as a part-time intern with the city of La Habra in 1994. Beginning in 1998, he worked his way up from being assistant to the city manager, to assistant city manager to eventually city manager in June 2002.

Knowing the ins and outs of the city, being energetic and having the instinct to be a successful city manager made Bridenbecker an asset to the city, Espinoza said.

"He had the perseverance to start the momentum … and he left our city in a better place than it was," she said.

Bridenbecker was also the type of manager employers looked forward to working with, Espinoza said.

Cervantes agreed, calling him a "great boss and talented man."

Bridenbecker was diagnosed with cancer soon after being appointed city manager and took a leave of absence in April 2006.

"He was a great love, not only to the city, but to his family," Espinoza said.

There are no set plans yet to formally open the street, but Cervantes said she hopes to publicly commemorate Bridenbecker Way when the 1-acre park being constructed on the site is complete

http://www.fhs89.com/class_profile.cfm?member_id=222926

http://articles.latimes.com/2004/apr/11/local/me-lahabra11

In March, Anaheim settled a lawsuit filed by Bill Gammoh that alleged city officials unconstitutionally prevented him from opening a Taboo Gentlemen's Club there, causing him to lose profits, court documents state.

Gammoh and his attorney, Scott Wellman, are also fighting La Habra City Hall. They are scheduled to head to court in June in lawsuits filed over an adult cabaret.

Although the issues are different in each city, the common goal of city officials and many residents is to bar strip clubs near homes. Similar battles have been waged for decades by cities nationwide.

In La Habra, the city in 1995 denied Gammoh the permits to open the cabaret, which then was called the Pelican Theater, court documents say. An appellate court ordered the city to issue Gammoh the permits in 1996 and 1998.

Taboo Gentlemen's Club, as it is called in both cities, has been open in La Habra since December 1998. It is the only adult entertainment club in the city of 60,000.

According to one of Gammoh's suits against La Habra, the city then passed restrictive ordinances, including one calling for exotic dancers to remain at least two feet from patrons. That suit contends that La Habra's laws are unconstitutionally vague and seeks to have them overturned.

A second suit seeks an unspecified sum to compensate Gammoh for lost profits because of the restrictions and for what Gammoh calls police harassment of customers.

"This case never had to happen," Wellman said. "All they had to do was give Mr. Gammoh his permit in 1995 and then no one would have known [the cabaret] was there. My pet peeve in this is that they're spending tons of taxpayers' money. This is getting ridiculous."

La Habra City Manager Brad Bridenbecker said that Gammoh's allegations are false and that the city has a duty to defend its laws.

"We have a business owner that has challenged the ordinances of this city, and the city has an obligation to defend those," he said. "I don't think the ordinances have the ability to limit the businesses that open in town."

La Habra has spent about $800,000 on the court cases so far, Bridenbecker said. "We'd love to be able to spend the money in other areas," he said, "but you have to defend the ordinances on the books, and that's what we're doing."

http://rightvoices.com/2003/03/28/city-of-la-habra-responds/

Today their Public Information Office finally sent a letter in response to my questions of why the police allowed people to vandalize a memorial site and what actually constituted vandalism in their eyes. While I think re-arranging someone’s display has altered the display or single piece of work is vandalism they disagree. However I guess that’s for the law to decide . Thank you for the response Brad Bridenbecker.

My Inventor friend Chic and his products

http://www.stretchandpress.com/





http://mygymmateusa.com/





If your a body building fan don't miss this promotion.

"Purchase a My Gym Mate between now and June 30th for a chance to win a grand prize workout with Mr. 8x Olympia Ronnie Coleman. Other prizes include a personally autograph photo of Ronnie Coleman,His latest DVD Invincible or a (2nd)personally autograph my gym mate."

California DOJ Bureau of Firearms

http://caag.state.ca.us/firearms/index.html

Steve Poizner for Governor of California

http://www.stevepoizner.com/support/signUp/?_c=xve32ifhzvhyyt

let the vetting begin

Looking for Great Stateswoman?

Meg Whitman is running for Governor in California in the 2010 race and she want your help.



http://www.megwhitman.com/

let the Vetting begin.

Looking for Great Statesman

Looking for a Great Statesman

McClintock says he is not running for Governor in 2010.

Watch the Video with Cavuto.

http://www.tommcclintock.com/

http://mcclintock.house.gov/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_McClintock

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Tom_McClintock

Fees? Taxes? Regulations? What is what?

Business License Tax Information

"The purpose of a Business License is solely to raise revenue for municipal purposes and not intended for regulation." (Section 5.02.010 CMC)

http://www.ci.corona.ca.us/index.cfm?section=City+Departments&page=Finance&viewpost=2&ContentId=421

Big machines making little things

More Mallett and Time Travel

More Time Travel

Time Machine

We have flying cars we don't really use, cloaking devices are just being developed, and Time Machines are being built.

There are 9 Episodes of The Tom and Jim Show available

make sure and check them out.

http://www.thetomandjimshow.blogspot.com/

Operation Red State

Running for Office?
Exploit Technology

http://operationredstate.com/

Brave New World, FMRI, Eugenics, DNA abnk

"O wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world! That has such people in't!",

from Miranda, in the Tempest, Shakespear


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brave_New_World

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_magnetic_resonance_imaging


http://www.chg.duke.edu/research/dnabank.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics

First Demonstration of a Working Invisibility Cloak

First Flying cars and now Cloaking devices?

http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/2006/10/cloakdemo.html

Podcast link

http://thetomandjimshow.blogspot.com/

check out the podcast,, leave some comments

Pig Book

http://www.cagw.org/site/PageServer?pagename=reports_pigbook2009

Eastvale Tea Party Tax Day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zBaeC_JfYI

Video Of Chino/Chino Hills Tax Day Tea Party

Norco, more witty signs made at home

I think this lazy protester was napping in his truck,

Everyday Americans, Individuals with like minds (eastvale)

There was no opposition,, everyone there seemd to agree?

Every sign was hand made

Eastvale... Mira Loma Tax Day protest

You tell them grandma!

People Take to the Streets to Voice their outrage.

Vidoe of Chino Ca. Tax Day Protest

Here they come, walking down the street,, Hey Hey its the

This is the kind of thinking behind it all

America coming together to put a stop to excessive Taxation!

Tax Day Tea Party Protest

Hundereds of people turned out in Chino California to begin the rally that eventually made its way to Chino Hills.

It was a breezy day,, and the signs of change were blowing in the wind!

Old Glory was every where,
"Don't Tread On Me" was every where!