Junk

By Hank Silverberg

It appears that America remains as divided as ever on Donald Trump and the effort to impeach him. And I almost didn’t write this angle because that’s really nothing new.

The latest evidence of the continuing polarization came in a House vote this past week. All the Republicans voted against a resolution that set up the groundwork for public hearings and other proceedings in the impeachment process. All but two Democrats voted for the resolution.  It is only the fourth time in U.S. history that an impeachment inquiry has gone this far. (Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton were the other three.) 

At the same time, several witnesses were giving depositions behind closed doors about that infamous call between Trump and the President of Ukraine. It's  testimony we have been told disputes President Trump’s description of the call, and the so-called transcript that the White House released.

Two things strike me about the whole debate. One is the Republicans repeated attacks on the people testifying before the congressional committee. These are mostly long- time government employees with stellar records who have no reason to lie. 

Second is the insistence on the part of the GOP that the transcript put out by the White House is an actual depiction of what happened, rather than a highly edited and redacted version of someone’s recollection. The memo itself says it’s not a verbatim transcript. This is the disclaimer at the bottom of the memo:  

The latest poll on impeachment comes from ABC and the Washington Post with 49% in favor of impeachment and 47% against it, while the President’s approval rating is down again to 38%.

    

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/americans-divided-49-47-impeachment-criticism-sides-poll/story?id=66664687

We are going to get public hearings on this soon and that  
may change those numbers significantly.  

How is the President behaving during all the impeachment talk?  There’s a lot I can write on this, but you are probably inundated with it every day. So, let me just add this. Much of the President’s reaction to the charges have been posted on Twitter. A look at his overall posts says a lot. This list comes from the Washington Post. 

(Steven Strasburg, Courtesy
 Washington Nationals )

While much of official Washington was focused on impeachment, the rest of the D.C. region had something else on their minds. The Washington Nationals won the World Series! It was a wonderful sight for fans who deserved it. But the buzz ended late Saturday, right after the victory parade, when World Series M-V-P Steven Strasburg filed for free agency. Can the Nats afford to keep him? Repeating as World Series champs is extremely hard these days. Just ask the Astros and the Red Sox. Such is the nature of MLB today and it’s probably a good thing.  

News Notes:

“Oh blah di, Oh bla da, life goes on, bra

La la la, how life goes on.” - The Beatles

While the House was searching for the truth, and the Nats were trying to win, I was hunting for replacement cup holders for my car. When I bought my used 2005 Ford Focus 12 years ago, it came without the inserts in the cup holder spaces. I bought a pair from the dealer for the outrageous price of $40. One disappeared about five years ago. The other somehow walked away last week. How? I do not know. But I use cup holders often so I wanted to replace them. There’s no way I was going to pay $40 again. That led me to a place called “Pick a Part” near home in Fredericksburg.

I paid $2 to get into the massive junk yard, and they gave me a map telling me where to find their collection of mangled Fords. It was rows 500 and 600. Of course, that location was all the way in the back of a lot holding 6,000 wrecked autos. The rain from the day before had left much of the ground muddy. 

An hour later, after climbing over lots of loose fenders, broken doors, extracted floor mats and other auto parts and searching through five cars, I found the right set of cup holders. 

Total cost: 90 minutes of my time that included washing the mud off my boots, and $7.57, which included the entrance fee, two cup holders and of course, sales tax.  

All this brings me to my point:

The car recycling industry is the 16^th largest business in the United States, contributing $25 billion a year to the national economy. According to a website called www.thebalancesmb.com/  each year about 27 million cars end up in junk yards where they are stripped of useful parts. There were more than a dozen or so people hunting for parts in the yard when I went on Saturday. Most of them had power tools to detach what they needed.  Eighty percent of the average car is eventually recycled. Either the parts are re-used or the metal is melted down for recasting. I saw people carrying out fenders, tire rims, carburetors and parts I didn’t recognize. 

To make things even better, the North American Automotive Industry saves 85 million barrels of oil each year from junk vehicles. The amount of hazardous materials and oils recovered is equivalent to eight Exxon Valdez disasters.

(The search for cup holders took me here)

And here’s the kicker. Auto recycling provides quality auto parts that cost between 20% and 80% less than new parts.

 This is only the third time I have relied on a junk yard to get a replacement part.  Last time it was a radio antenna for my daughter’s car, which was a good deal.  I had a used tire rim put on my car once by a tire place. I’m sure they charged me much more for that used rim than if I had purchased it directly from a junk yard myself and just had them install it. But it's still on the car and doing just fine. A mechanic once purchased an entire used engine to place in a used car I once owned. That was a mistake. It didn't last long. Neither did my relationship with that particular repair shop. So you have to be careful.     

There are also some drawbacks to the car recycling industry. The junk yards are an eyesore and need to have big solid fences to block the view. And they need a buffer between their location and neighborhoods. Also, I would not install a used part that was directly related to the safety of the car, like an airbag or brakes. You need to make sure any part you get is not damaged and works properly. A good auto mechanic can help you there. But the bottom line is: think how ugly the world would be without the auto parts recycling industry. Hopefully, I won’t have to go back for more cup holders.

            (Your comments and suggestions are welcome) 

(Copies of my latest book "The Campaign" can be purchased on line at Amazon.com, BN.Com or you can email me at hanksilverberg@gmail.com for details on how to get a signed copy at a vastly reduced price.)