This thread is useful when juxtaposed with the referenced article in the Bolshevik Daily News.
Basically, the BDN writes a small story about a state program that partners with Goodwill, Key Bank, and the Maine Automobile Dealers Association to provide cars to persons receiving government assistance. AMG users go up in arms. This is a great chance to discuss some of the myths perpetrated by AMGers and hard-core conservatives in general.
MYTH # 1
State employees are paid too much, thus sucking the life essence out of the Maine taxpayer.
BDN article: In fact, this state employee is so underpaid that she qualifies for food stamps.
MYTH #2
AMG conservatives aren’t mean-spirited, they just want “compassionate” conservatism.
Reality: Here we have a program that is as close to the “conservative” ideal as can possibly exist. It is a private-public partnership. A private charity runs the “ground-game,” i.e. collecting and preparing the cars for sale. The cars are not given to recipients but are subject to a loan with interest, which requires responsibility on the part of the recipient and fosters all the civil benefits of ownership that free-marketeers love to talk about. The cars themselves are not fancy; the woman in the BDN article received a 2001 Ford Taurus.
All of that isn’t enough to satisfy the AMG crazy-wing. Here is some AMG reaction:
Why did she need a car, wasn’t she getting to work without one?
Why does she need a loan for a DONATED car? Who’s getting the money?
The BDN seems to revel in all this largess.
Who pays when she defaults?
Only on AMG is a 2001 Ford Taurus, sold subject to a loan with interest, considered part of the “largess” of government.
MYTH #3
Government assistance exists only to create dependent voters. It doesn’t help people.
Government programs can provide persons with dignity and help them get back on their feet and, hopefully, boost them towards self-sufficiency. The subject of the BDN article put it best:
Roberts said her life has been “a long, hard road” but her determination to better her life for her family has kept her going, and the bumps nowadays are a little easier to manage, thanks in part because she has a vehicle to get around.
And she feels a sense of accomplishment every time she gets into her car.
“I work for it,” she said.
The first trip Roberts took in her car was off her typical beaten path.
“I took my family out to dinner … [at a restaurant] off the bus route,” she said.
Ms. Roberts is a voter trying to work and raise children. She might remember who was there to help her when she needed it.