Idol Chatter

With the cash for clunkers program scheduled to end tomorrow night, the question should be asked who really benefited? Sure the folks who bought cars and got rebates benefited from a reduced price on their car and the auto dealers certainly liked the program but with billions of dollars spent, what did the country as a whole get?

The issue is that this was a very short term spike in car sales which isn’t likely to produce any significant long term benefits to the economy. We’ve given one segment of our economy a short term boost but without any real economic recovery to support continued sales, it’s just a shot in the arm that may make August economic data look better than it really is (if looked at a sustainable basis) and keep the unemployment rate from going any higher. It does not do anything to address any of the real underlying issues in the automotive industry.

Finally there are real concerns that all the cash for clunkers program really did was divert monies that would have been spent on other retail purchases have now be diverted to making a car payment that wasn’t in the family budget before this program Retail sales in July was weak and the back to school spending looks to be down this year. For those struggling in non automotive related retail sales, the cash for clunkers program was not any bargin.

Moreover, many charities that take on used cars are now reporting a significant drop off of donations since the used cars turned in under the cash for clunkers program must be destroyed. That’s frustrating to them and hurts those with limited means.

I’m not against some level of healthcare reform. It would be great to have existing condition exclusions eliminated for example. I’m also all for the creation of some sort of large demographic pool that is open to the public so that by distributing risks over a wide population, the cost of healthcare insurance can come down for individuals and small businesses who often get priced out of coverage.

But the real health issue that confronts this country is the fact that we have become a nation of sedentary, overweight, and lazy Americans. Obesity is at all time high rates, Diabetes continues to climb as a condition of our sedentary lives. And we eat poorly on top of sitting all day. Fast food tends to carry a ton of fat and the American love of French Fries has us consuming a fatty food that also has starchy carbs that hits our bloodstream quickly and causes our bodies to work at just controlling blood sugar levels.

Offering wider inclusion and lower rates to all Americans is great but if we don’t take responsibility for our health, the rate of disease incidents will continue to climb and so will our health costs. It’s inevitable without a change in ourselves, not our healthcare insurance options.

Getting fit is not that hard. Drink more water to reduce your appetite and improve your body’s metabolism is an easy step. Taking a few breathing breaks during the day where you breath deeply will better oxygenate your blood which can actually help you lose a few pounds. It will also relax you and stress reduction will reduce the hormone cortisone in your blood stream which had a whole waterfall of favorable impacts on your body.

And get some exercise!

Come on, exercising is not that big a commitment. There are many workout programs that you can do in your own home. In fact I recently found a great site, Press Play Fitness, where they talk about different, well balanced (weight lifting plus aerobic) programs. Imagine if all you had to do is just show up to exercise. Now isn’t that something you could commit to? Isn’t that something we really should expect of all Americans?

If we want to live in the best country on Earth, we need to make ourselves the best we can be.

Update: September 28th

I wanted to come back to this post because in addition to exercising it seems like we should be eating better as well. I know I need help in that arena so I was interested in this new shake I found. It’s called Shakeology and it had tons of good stuff in it. I’ve been drinking a shake for breakfast and I have to say that I feel better and I dropped 1lb this week. Now I don’t expect to continue to lose weight but it sure was nice to see.