August 20, 2009
Cash for Clunkers Clunks Out

Posted at 5:36 pm, in: Spending
Tags: Barack Obama, Cash for Clunkers, Congress, Ray LaHood

Cash for Clunkers finally clunks out:

The $3 billion Cash for Clunkers program will end on Monday, the government said Thursday.

Dealers must submit any pending Clunker deals, including any necessary paperwork, by 8 p.m. Monday.

“It’s been a thrill to be part of the best economic news story in America,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “Now we are working toward an orderly wind down of this very popular program.”

Officials decided to wind down the program, which Congress passed to spur flagging auto sales, after determining that it would soon run out of money.

As of Thursday, the program has recorded more than 457,000 dealer transactions worth $1.9 billion in rebates.

Under the Clunkers program, which launched July 27, vehicles purchased after July 1 are eligible for refund vouchers worth $3,500 to $4,500 on traded-in cars with a fuel economy rating of 18 miles per gallon or less.

The program proved wildly popular, running through its initial $1 billion in its first week and leading lawmakers to approve an additional $2 billion in funding on Aug. 7.

Just to be clear, Congress did not develop this program with the objective of spurring auto sales. They were inspired by their misguided belief that the planet is warming and we’re all going to fry and that the only way to stop this catastrophe is to limit our “carbon footprint,” which can most easily be accomplished by getting “gas guzzlers” off the road. At least, that’s what they think.

The “best economic new story” is a hoax. This will not help the economy in the long run. It was a false demand created by the government. All of the people being brought back to work will be back out of work once this program ends and middle class folks stop buying cars they probably didn’t need, with a discount thanks to people like me, and with the result of falsely inflating used car prices, which can only hurt the poorest of Americans. At least you can appear to be holding true to that promise of not taxing those making less than $250,000 a year.

Yeah, those of you who couldn’t take advantage of the program because even with a $4,500 discount from the government you still couldn’t afford a new car payment and the higher insurance premiums you would have to pay. Yeah, it’s you who will ultimately pay for this program when you have to buy a used car because thanks to this program taking usable used cars off the road, this has placed a restriction on the supply of used cars. With less used cars on the market, it will lead to an increase in price of all used cars on the market. Hi, let me introduce you to my little friend, it’s called the reality of supply and demand. Once again, I recommend Thomas Sowell’s book, Basic Economics.

Oh well! What do they care? It all sounded good, even if it inadvertantly punished those who bought cars that were more fuel efficient and those who just couldn’t afford to buy a new car at all. And, all in the name of helping out the global-warming zealots auto-industry. I thought we helped them enough with the billions of dollars handed over when they came crying a couple of months back. I guess not. It’s OK. I am you indentured slave. I’ll keep working everyday so that you can keep spending. Who cares if I don’t even own a car? I’m just glad I could help you buy one.