NEW "END OF LIFE" CHALLENGE FOR OBAMA

When Congress and the Obama Administration agreed to pump $3 billion into the "cash for clunkers" program, the 535 automotive engineers in Congress and all those smart people at the White House forgot something -- old cars contain mercury, which is supposed to be kept out of landfills. Before old cars are shredded, switches containing mercury are supposed to be removed, and somebody has to be paid to do it. The work was financed in part by the auto companies. But the "new" GM points out that it doesn't put mercury into auto components anymore and therefore has no obligation to help pay for yanking the switches out of old cars. But the "old" GM, now a mere shell devoted to dumping various once-prized assets, doesn't want to chip into the fund, either. Outraged recyclers are grumbling that "GM" stands for "Government Motors" and the company should be forced to pay into the fund. We'll see if Obama meant it when he said that the federal government doesn't want to run GM, or his "green" instincts prevail and he forces the company to cough up the mere $1 million it would otherwise owe.

The entity running the mercury switch removal program is called "End of Life Vehicle Solutions Corp." Seems like challenges at the end of life continue to dog the Obama team.