Our Discriminatory Government

SWNID owns a clunker. It wastes energy and ought to be replaced soon if the planet is to be saved. But we look in vain for help from the California Democrats who gave us the esteemed "Cash for Clunkers" program.

The SWNIDish clunker is a dishwasher, now at least a decade old, leaky, rusty and totally unreliable. We aim to replace it with a sleek, Energy-Star-approved model that will clean our dishes better, faster and quieter using less energy and water, thus keeping our world safe for dishwasher-users of the future.

But we find that our clunker doesn't qualify for a rebate from Uncle Sugar. The appliance industry has been passed over in a blatantly discriminatory move. Only automobiles constitute clunkers, though the same criteria applied to them would apply just as well to our polluting, wasteful dishwasher. And we don't need $4500. Just $45 would be nice.

We'll go further: as a dishwasher, our appliance is being profiled. Take a 1987 Dodge pickup to the dealership and you get a check. Take our dishwasher there and you'll get nothing but a puzzled expression. What is that if not profiling?

To avoid further discrimination like this, the government can do but one thing. Future "Cash for Clunkers" programs should be administered simply as cash for taxpayers. Just let us keep our money and we can replace what needs replacing, thank you very much.