The Real Reason Behind the Cash for Clunkers Program

reply to post by FlyersFan


OK just got finished logging on to that site with everybody I knows computers except mine. I even logged on from a few at the library a few blocks over.



Why you ask?

Because that's just the kind of guy I am!
That's why.

meuahahahahaha


[edit on 20-8-2009 by SLAYER69]

Four Observations:

1. Given the widespread revocation of privacy and civil liberties during the Bush Reign, and the wide spread use of secret eavesdropping en mass and collection of private information including secret "sneek and peek" warrants, the US government already has the infrastructure to totally own every byte of your computer already if they wanted it.

2. Given point one, what would be the purpose of putting up a big warning screen advising the user that logging in and CONNECTING TO a private government information system and what that means in terms of privacy? Isn't that a bit like making undercover police officers wear special bright red beanies?

3. If you use Windows, there is already a very good chance that your computer has already been taken over by a botnet. Why would the government risk ... well to just come out and saying it .. catching something from you. Taking over the average American's computer is as risky as having unprotected sex with a ten dollar hooker. In fact, if they really wanted to take over your computer, the botnet technology would enable them to do it without you ever even knowing.

4. What could they possibly want with millions of hard drives filled with vacation pictures, term papers, lots of cheap porn, email to relatives about Uncle Joe's drinking problem at Thanksgiving and so on.

I'm not really inclined to believe this crap since most high level intelligence work in the US actually does require at least a High School diploma.

[edit on 20-8-2009 by metamagic]

Originally posted by SLAYER69
reply to post by FlyersFan

 

OK just got finished logging on to that site with everybody I knows computers except mine. I even logged on from a few at the library a few blocks over.

Why you ask?

Because that's just the sort of fellow I am!
That's why.

meuahahahahaha

[edit on 20-8-2009 by SLAYER69]

Excellent move Slayer!

Sooooooo .... are you feeling any tendrils of mind control yet?

@ slayer and metamagic, you guys crack me up!

thanks for sharing, your both brilliant.

I have never heard this program even referred to as CARS before.. But on my way to pick up dinner, on the radio was a Hyundai commercial and they advised people interested in cash for clunkers to visit CARS.gov

Always freaky hearing things you just read on ATS...

Luckily there is a tin foil hat in my glove compartment in case the radio might be reading my thoughts..

Originally posted by Animal
while i highly doubt the 'real reason' for the cash for clunkers program was to steal anyone's 'private information' i will not stand in anyone's way who wished to believe such a claim.

Because if the government wanted to steal the information on our computers, they'd do it. They wouldn't have to make up this elaborate scheme using cars and a pretense to get anything they wanted about our personal information.

Besides, how many people participated in Cash for Clunkers anyway? Half a million? Would they make up this false "front" and go through all these machinations - to gain access to 1/2 a million people's computers out of 150 million households with Internet access?

Why anyone believes the crap spewed on FOX, I'll never know... :shk:

Source
Source

reply to post by Alxandro

Originally posted by Alxandro
So if I bank online while I go to this site, all my savings will now belong to Obama?

Well, there already is an equivalent in HR 3200, the House health care bill, that allows the gov't to access your bank account to pay for your health care. It's on page 59 of the pdf file.

Originally posted by jsobecky
reply to post by Alxandro

 

Originally posted by Alxandro
So if I bank online while I go to this site, all my savings will now belong to Obama?

Well, there already is an equivalent in HR 3200, the House health care bill, that allows the gov't to access your bank account to pay for your health care. It's on page 59 of the pdf file.

excellent parallel to draw mate, well done.

it is such a perfect example because just like visiting this site and accessing the noted page the health care (public insurance option) is a personal CHOICE and if you fear it in any way you don't have to participate. again, excellent parallel.

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
Why anyone believes the crap spewed on FOX, I'll never know... :shk:

... says the person who believes (and defends) the crap spewed by Obama.
:shk: Backatchya.

Originally posted by Rockpuck
they advised people interested in cash for clunkers to visit CARS.gov

Kinda makes you wonder ... doesn't it?

Well, I have just spent some time wandering around the cars.gov website and I cannot find the text from the OP. Why? Because I am not a car dealer. On the Lew Rockwell BLOG which was used as the source for this story, there is an update:

UPDATE: For those of you who have written to me to inform me that it is the car dealers—and not the customers—who have to use this government website, I say, “What difference does it make?”

He also adds:

The point is that whatever PRIVATE CITIZEN is using the government website now has his or her information on the computer owned by the government.

Which is NOT true. Private citizens are NOT car dealers in this government program.

In other words, for the DEALERS who are involved in this program, they are subject to exceptions of the Privacy Act of 1974

The Privacy Act states in part:

No agency shall disclose any record which is contained in a system of records by any means of communication to any person, or to another agency, except pursuant to a written request by, or with the prior written consent of, the individual to whom the record pertains....[1]

There are specific exceptions for the record allowing the use of personal records[2]:

* For statistical purposes by the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics
* For routine uses within a U.S. government agency
* For archival purposes "as a record which has sufficient historical or other value to warrant its continued preservation by the United States Government"
* For law enforcement purposes
* For congressional investigations
* Other administrative purposes

Cars.gov is a GOVERNMENT website. Dealers who sell their cars through this website are subject to the above exception. That's it. That's all... Nothing to see here.

Even Glenn Beck says in the video that this is the dealer side of the transaction... And he also frightens the heck out of people and tells them "Don't do this at home"... Hmmm... I wonder if that's because we'd find out what a fraud and liar he actually is...

FOX News counts on their viewers being gullible enough and partisan enough to swallow, hook, line and sinker, whatever they say. And unfortunately, they seem to be right to place that "confidence" in their audience's lack of skepticism, reasoning, logic and critical thought.

I distrust Beck SO much that I went to cars.gov looking for this "malicious" piece of information and I can't find it. I challenge you all to do the same. If you're not a dealer, and not logged in as a dealer in this government program, you won't see this security policy. If you're a dealer, then you are participating in a government program and are subject to the exceptions stated above. Your dealership computer (not your personal computer), when participating in Cash for Clunkers, AND when logged in, is considered part of the Federal Computer System.

The FOX people don't surprise me anymore. They are worthless. As is the information that spews from their channel.

[edit on 21-8-2009 by Benevolent Heretic]

I have known this for a while, I just figured it was common knowledge here on ATS. Why would they want this information? Does it matter? Its an invasion of privacy.

Hello why is the MSM not talking about this? The fact that they are using the cash for clunkers as a way to conduct domestic spying? That's way more important than what the first dog is doing today or that jello has a new flavour.

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic


Yah BH...I was on the fence about actually posting here. I don't like to encourage Flyers given her knack for...um...lets say..not always acknowledging all of the facts for a given situation....oh who am I kidding...she stokes the flames of partisan politics with half-truths and lies.

This started as a viral email and of course that was good enough for Fox and Beck to call it news

For better or worse here is the plain truth..
It was on a sub-system of Cars.gov...required for Log-in.
It was very Poor original wording by a whoever wrote it..
It applied to dealers that were registered with the program..
It had no application or relevance to consumers.
It was revised/changed when the DOT was confronted about the poor choice of wording.
They acknowledged that it could be read to imply an illegal invasion of privacy and that that was not their intent.
This text no longer exists on the Cars.Gov system

** Most importantly is the fact that the GOP spin machine has turned it's attention to the "Cash for Clunkers" program,...why? Becuase it has been hugely successful and it was an Obama initiative.

Pretty soon they will start stories about how "Cash for Clunkers" funds terrorism and the dealers who benefited were all born in Kenya and the consumers who benefited are all left wing, commie, socialists who are 1/8th Arab, 1/4 White, 1/8th Nigerian and look black, but aren't.

And the Clunkers are being recycled into mobile prison cells to contain dissenters who speak out against Rahm Emmanuel's secret "Israeli agenda"

...just some ideas for Glen and FOX since I know they look here to find their news.

Mark my words...you think I am kidding, but you will see "cash for clunkers" smeared to high heaven over the next month as numbers prove it succesful...the GOP has REALLY gone over the deep end.

From Urbanlegends ...

urbanlegends.about.com...

Analysis: What's true in the above is that for an unspecified period of time car dealers participating in the U.S. Department of Transportation's "Cash for Clunkers" program encountered the following warning upon accessing the program's vendors-only website:

This application provides access to the DOT CARS system. When logged on to the CARS system, your computer is considered a federal computer system and is property of the United States government... users have no explicit or implicit expectation of privacy. Any or all uses of this system and all files on this system may be intercepted, monitored, recorded, copied, audited, inspected and disclosed to authorized CARS, DOT and law enforcement personnel, as well as authorized officials of other agencies, both domestic and foreign. By using this system, the user consents to such interception, monitoring, recording, copying, auditing, inspection, and disclosure at the discretion CARS or the DOT personnel.
No laughing matter. Nor is it especially comforting to know that only registered dealerships, not the general public, were confronted with the message. It has since been changed.

According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a watchdog group focusing on free speech and privacy issues on the Internet, the terms of service language was not only "careless" and "overreaching" but also legally unenforceable and technically dubious:

Clicking "continue" on a poorly worded Terms of Service on a government site will not give the government the ability to "tap into your system... any time they want." The seizure of the personal and private information stored on your computer through a one-sided click-through terms of service is not “conscionable” as lawyers say, and would not be enforceable even if the cars.gov website was capable of doing it which we seriously doubt.

Moreover, the law has long forbidden the government from requiring you to give up unrelated constitutional rights (here the 4th Amendment right to be free from search and seizure) as a condition of receiving discretionary government benefits like participation in the Cars for Clunkers program.

As of this writing, the revised terms of service language is more like what one typically finds on government websites and reads as follows:

You are accessing a U.S. Government information system. This information system, including all related equipment, networks, and network devices, is provided for U.S. Government-authorized use only. Unauthorized or improper use of this system is prohibited, and may result in civil and criminal penalties, or administrative disciplinary action. The communications and data stored or transiting this system may be, for any lawful Government purpose, monitored, recorded, and subject to audit or investigation. By using this system, you understand and consent to such terms.

[edit on 21-8-2009 by maybereal11]

Originally posted by maybereal11
It was revised/changed when the DOT was confronted about the poor choice of wording.

Well, no wonder I couldn't find it! But let's not allow these silly facts to get in the way of yet another good old false anti-Obama conspiracy theory!

It can only be accessed on the Dealer end of the transaction.

And honestly are you really that surprised?

Glenn Beck is a hypocrite.