More wasted money south of the border

One of the things that I find particularly strange is the current
appliance rebates program the American government is pursuing, that is intended to improve energy efficiency and stimulate the economy. It is reported that $300 million dollars will be rebated to those buying certain new appliances.

This strikes me as another silly political maneuver calculated to lull people away from the real issues. Fraudulent banking practices, massive campaigns to prop up the "corporatization" of the planet. Where are the new appliances being manufactured? If they are being manufactured close to where they are used then there might be some validity to the program. If the majority of the new appliances are being manufactured overseas, it would seem to negate any gains over the cradle to grave life cycle of them.

Anyone who thinks that these sorts of programs that are limited to our southern neighbors will not affect us in Canada are I think dreaming.
After the American government bailed out the auto industry, Canada followed suit. And the Canadian Dollar is always compared to the American Dollar. If the American Dollar goes down the toilet guess what?

I think it would be far more prudent to begin introducing policies that seriously curbed the phenomenal wastage of petroleum products, being burned like there is no tomorrow, on the ridiculously heavy and rather over powered auto fleet.

The other question which comes to mind regarding the fate of all of the old appliances and the associated materials involved in there manufacture. How are they recycled? Where does the material go? And how much of it is simply wasted, and land filled.