‘Cash for clunkers’ program ought to be ended
The “Clunkers for Cash” program never made sense in the first place, at least as it was enacted. The alleged environmental “benefits” were largely bogus, the taxpayer subsidy was much too generous and its benefits were too narrowly targeted to the automaking industry and to those Americans in a financial position to think about buying a new car or, given the program design, a new truck or SUV.
Meanwhile, a lot of other folks are losing their homes, their health insurance, their children’s college tuition, etc.
The great popularity of the clunker program has done nothing to ease those concerns. To the contrary, it has confirmed them. I think that until now, most of what Congress and President Obama have done in response to the economic crisis has been defensible, but not this. It’s a jump-the-shark program that ought to be ended, and I hope the Senate succeeds in doing so.
In fact, the program’s great “success” in boosting vehicle sales raises another concern: In a matter of days, the auto dealers and automakers have “consumed” demand for new vehicles that otherwise would have played out for months. They’re thrilled about the surge of business and the income, for the moment anyway.
But what happens when the program ends, as it must? People who are buying today in the orgy of government-subsidized consumption won’t be there to buy in September or October as part of a slowly rebuilding economy. After the flood will come a drought.
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158 comments Add your comment
Hillbilly Deluxe
August 4th, 2009
2:02 pm
The people buying cars are the people who could already afford new cars. Those who couldn’t afford a new car still can”t afford one under this program. It is helping car sales and keeping some people working but it’s not going to help any poor person buy a car. The fact that cars traded in have to be rendered inoperable also reduces the pool of used cars and drives up their price.
stands for decibels
August 4th, 2009
2:19 pm
People who are buying today in the orgy of government-subsidized consumption won’t be there to buy in September or October as part of a slowly rebuilding economy. After the flood will come a drought.
Jay, that may have been the case if there were this vast super-long list of used cars/trucks that qualify for the program, but that really isn’t the case. It’s a pretty modest program, and while I guess in a perfect world its popularity would’ve been anticipated a bit better and more money allocated to allow it to run for its intended span (until around Sept., if memory serves), it appears to have accomplished what it set out to accomplish.
I wouldn’t be horrified if the program were ended, but it seems to me that it merits running a little bit longer, more like what had been intended–to help out the summer doldrums.
Also, regarding HD’s comment:
The fact that cars traded in have to be rendered inoperable also reduces the pool of used cars and drives up their price.
Much has been made of the provision for disabling the gas guzzling powertrains, but a) other parts can be salvaged prior to crushing, and b) as for the effect on the used car market, remember that any kind of new-car subsidy will have some kind of inflationary effect on used cars.
I Report (-: You Whine )-:
August 4th, 2009
2:24 pm
LaHood, for example, promotes the fact that the Ford Focus so far is at the top of the list of new cars purchased under the program. But the limited information released so far shows most buyers are not picking Ford, Chrysler or General Motors vehicles, and six of the top 10 vehicles purchased are Honda, Toyota and Hyundai.
My goodness, what happened to bookman?
Hail the new Bookman!
Wes
August 4th, 2009
2:26 pm
Jay,
That was a beautiful sentiment. How about going after farm subsidies next?
Gale
August 4th, 2009
2:26 pm
Dang, Jay. you are on a roll. Shut down the program. It was funded. The funds are gone. Move on.
jconservative
August 4th, 2009
2:26 pm
Lets hold on here a minute! “Thinking Right” Jim Wooten is opposed to this program & Jay Bookman is opposed to this program. Both of you?
The program must really be the pits!
Scooter
August 4th, 2009
2:29 pm
If I didn’t know better I would say JB and JW swaped places today! AS usual I am confused!
Bosch
August 4th, 2009
2:30 pm
I don’t think this was such a bad program, it serves a purpose to get people motivated to buy cars. However, many I feel that government programs such as this for years has looked more for short term solutions rather than long term – just to claim some success during a political term – and fail to address long term problems.
jt
August 4th, 2009
2:31 pm
BAZAAROWORLD.
I always knew Jay was the coolest.
Bosch
August 4th, 2009
2:33 pm
Wow. That 2:30 post of mine is one fine piece of prose – snort. My apologies to all my English teachers.
Jay
August 4th, 2009
2:35 pm
Wes, I’ve written for years in opposition to the farm programs. I think you need to take that up with people like Sen. Chambliss.
Doggone/GA
August 4th, 2009
2:36 pm
“That 2:30 post of mine is one fine piece of prose – snort”
Don’t sweat it…most of run into the problem of thinking faster than we can type!
Wes
August 4th, 2009
2:37 pm
Already did. The form letter I got back was lovely.
Hillbilly Deluxe
August 4th, 2009
2:41 pm
Already did. The form letter I got back was lovely.
At least you got a form letter. Nobody in my Congressman’s office even saw fit to return my phone calls (and it wasn’t a political matter, more of a constituent’s service type thing). Not calling any names but he won’t be getting my vote for Governor.
Bosch
August 4th, 2009
2:42 pm
Wes,
Writing Saxby to oppose farm subsidies is like asking a whore to give up sex and heroin.
TnGelding
August 4th, 2009
2:43 pm
I said it was nothing but welfare for the wealthy and middle income, but the immediate effect has been good and the number of sales for this part of the program, roughly 250,000, aren’t enough to dry up demand later, if the economy picks up as so many are saying it will. As I said later (and earlier)I think it should be expanded to cover roughly a million vehicles. We need to increase sales by about 5 million units to get back to normal.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/China-passes-US-auto-market-apf-682077388.html?x=0&.v=5
http://www.hotstocked.com/article/1508/ford-motor-company-nyse-f-to-post-sales-gain.html
It has to have a positive effect on the air we breathe and increase safety for the consumer, as well, and save them money in the long run. It’s expensive and dangerous to keep a clunker running and one of the best reasons to buy a new vehicle is the warranty.
But there are definitely pros and cons. As bad a shape as the economy is in, I think it should be extended. An income requirement could be added, but it’s complicated enough as it is. The other areas mentioned as needing attention are getting it.
Scooter
August 4th, 2009
2:45 pm
Hey Bosch, Paul told me to tell you that he had the word of the day for yesterday! incontrovertible
Turd Ferguson
August 4th, 2009
2:46 pm
Agreed…the cash for clunkers program is a clunker. The environmental benefits argument is just silly and stupid. Al Goron himself couldnt have dreamed up a more useless, stupid program.
jt
August 4th, 2009
2:47 pm
JAY-
Did anyone catch a STEELHEAD?
I Report (-: You Whine )-:
August 4th, 2009
2:47 pm
The White House’s senior aide on cybersecurity has decided to resign following delays in the appointment of a coordinator to spearhead the government’s efforts to protect the nation’s computer networks.
Hathaway noted that it has been two months since President Obama made a highly acclaimed speech on the importance of cybersecurity and pledged to “personally” select a cybersecurity coordinator.-Washington Post
What the TelePrompter says and what the TelePrompter does are two entirely different things.
Bosch
August 4th, 2009
2:49 pm
Scooter,
Thanks! Good one. For some strange reason when I read that word, that guy from the “Princess Bride” who was always saying “inconceivable” popped into my head.
Class of '98
August 4th, 2009
2:50 pm
But Jay, don’t you understand? Pay no attention to the facts, it’s all about HOPE and CHANGE. That’s all we really need. Hope, change, hope, change, hope, change, hope, change.
Repeat this to yourself for about 30 minutes, and you’ll be back to your old self, no problem.
stands for decibels
August 4th, 2009
2:52 pm
Scooter–
Who was the first to conquer space?
It’s incontrovertible
That the first to conquer living space
Is Castro Convertible
Who conquers space with fine design?
Who saves you money all the time?
Who’s tops in the convertible line?
Castro Convertible!
(No, I don’t have first-hand recollection of that jingle, but know some folks who did…)
Wes
August 4th, 2009
2:52 pm
Bosch,
Perfect metaphor
Scooter
August 4th, 2009
2:53 pm
Hey Whiner, who the heck tells the teleprompter what to say anyway??????
Turd Ferguson
August 4th, 2009
2:53 pm
PS…lettuce just hope those individuals who traded in said “clunker” for cash are able to avoid the ultimate slap in the face – LAYOFF. Wouldnt that be a shame. Here one has traded in their bought and paid for automobile for something new only to lose their job and then have to face THE REPO-MAN.
Now simply is not the time to be going further into debt.
Class of '98
August 4th, 2009
2:53 pm
It was actually a simile.
I Report (-: You Whine )-:
August 4th, 2009
2:54 pm
Aahhh, yes, a kook family photo-
http://d.yimg.com/a/p/afp/20090804/capt.photo_1249401177497-1-0.jpg?x=400&y=304&q=85&sig=iIHtRxIuEtH7gqntz_LvVQ–
Say, I hear you got some pretty hot chicks held against their will.
Mind if I, uh, check them out?
Doggone/GA
August 4th, 2009
2:56 pm
“who the heck tells the teleprompter what to say anyway??????”
Why I thought you knew! Nobody does! The TELEPROMPTER is all knowing, all seeing…and writes all of it’s own, and everyone else’s material.
Bosch
August 4th, 2009
2:58 pm
Andy,
““who the heck tells the teleprompter what to say anyway??????”
It’s that creepy computer chick from the movie Eagle Eye.
Wes,
Seriously, right?
I Report (-: You Whine )-:
August 4th, 2009
2:58 pm
Scooter- Axelrod.
Emanual.
Code Pinko.
PETA.
NARAL.
Et al.
Scooter
August 4th, 2009
3:00 pm
Dang DB, you sure can throw in some mindbogglers!
jt
August 4th, 2009
3:02 pm
JAY-
From what I understand, the odds of catching a STEELHEAD in the Deschutesis is akin to catching a GERMAN BROWN in the Chattahoochie below the Buford Dam. Some of them are EIGHTY pounds.
Did anybody catch one?
TnGelding
August 4th, 2009
3:02 pm
I Report (-: You Whine )-:
August 4th, 2009
2:24 pm
Like it or not it’s a global economy. Foreign manufacturers make vehicles here and the companies trade on the NYSE. I wouldn’t be surprised if you have TM in your portfolio. I know you’ve given up on Government Motors. Are you so disgusted you’ve ditched your Escalades?
Wyld Byll Hyltnyr
August 4th, 2009
3:02 pm
Just another example of Obumbler’s lack of leadership and incompetence. I call it the Obumbler hokey – pokey.
Obumbler put cach for clunkers in – he took cash for clunkers out
Obumblers advisers put middle calls tax cuts in – Obumbler took middle class tax cuts out
Obumbler does the hokey-pokey and then he trashes America all about
Cash for clunkers, healthcare, middle class tax hikes, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in Afghanistan, throwing Israel under the bus for a bunch of godless animals – you have got to wonder if Obumbler has any principals.
Lord, I just wish he would swallow his pride and ask President Bush to come fix the problems. The nation deserves better than than this callow inexperience Obumbler fellow.
RW-(the original)
August 4th, 2009
3:02 pm
I’m now 100% convinced Jay B has been kidnapped. Who wants to organize a trout fishing/rescue mission?
One other thing that’s nuts about this program is that you have to turn in a “gas guzzler” that you’ve owned for at least a year. If we want to get one of them off the road why can’t we buy one from somebody that needs some cash as long as it can ve shown that somebody was driving that vehicle. Then we get a new car into the fleet and a clunker off the road plus somebody that needs cash, possibly for a somewhat more reliable used car, but can’t afford a new one gets some help.
stands for decibels
August 4th, 2009
3:02 pm
you sure can throw in some mindbogglers!
I just think that’s the only time I’ve ever heard the term “incontrovertible” used outside of a legal procedural, is all.
Mrs. Godzilla
August 4th, 2009
3:05 pm
scuttlebutt…..Former POTUS will be leaving NK with the two reporters…..
@@
August 4th, 2009
3:05 pm
The cash for clunkers program was an insult to the poor.
My husband, whose driving motivation is to screw the government, not only took their $4,500 towards the purchase of a 5 year roadside warranty attached to a new car for our daughter, but he bought a truck right out from under the government. Sold it yesterday for $6,500 when the dealer was authorized to allow only $3,500.
You think that guy who sold my husband his truck was worried about the environment? Obviously not! Didn’t matter to him where the $3,500 came from. Didn’t matter to the salesman either. He watched the transaction go down.
I have a feeling that should this program continue, my husband and “the salesman” will both be profiting.
Yankee ingenuity….it’s a good thing
especially when it’s born and bred in a southern boy.
Scooter
August 4th, 2009
3:06 pm
Whiner, now I know why there is so much flip flopping going on. Thanks!
TnGelding
August 4th, 2009
3:07 pm
Jay
August 4th, 2009
2:35 pm
The farm programs not only make sure we have food but that we have cheap food.
Turd Ferguson
August 4th, 2009
3:09 pm
Clinton to Kim. “You keep behavin badwee and we will keep kissing your ahss”.
Wyld Byll Hyltnyr
August 4th, 2009
3:09 pm
@@ 3:05 pm
I’m shocked and dismayed that your family would participate in this government welfare state.
TnGelding
August 4th, 2009
3:10 pm
Class of ‘98
August 4th, 2009
2:50 pm
And you’re hoping things don’t change? Both major political ran on change. The current change, or lack thereof, is only temporary. Let’s wait and see how this plays out over the next year.
AmVet
August 4th, 2009
3:11 pm
“…and ask President Bush to come fix the problems.”
?????????????????????????????????????????
OK, that’s it. The balloting is officially over. Forever.
And the winner of the most brainless, dazed, deficient, dense, dim, doltish, dopey, dull, dumb, foolish, futile, gullible, half-baked, half-witted, idiotic, ill-advised, imbecilic, inane, indiscreet, insensate, irrelevant, laughable, loser, ludicrous, meaningless, mindless, moronic, naive, nonsensical, obtuse, out to lunch, pointless, puerile, rash, senseless, shortsighted, simple, simpleminded, slow, sluggish, stolid, stupefied, thick, thick-headed, trivial, unintelligent, unthinking, witless post ever submitted to the AJC is….
Hillbilly Deluxe
August 4th, 2009
3:12 pm
I just think that’s the only time I’ve ever heard the term “incontrovertible” used outside of a legal procedural, is all.
All those whereas’s and wheretofore’s and afforementioned’s are why lawyers charge so much. But they must not know what they mean either cause one lawyer always argues the exact opposite of the other guy’s lawyer. Seems like they’d just get a dictionary and there’e be no case.
Turd Ferguson
August 4th, 2009
3:12 pm
Kim to Clinton. “We keep behaveen badwee and you keep kissing ow-wuh ahss. You big dumbahss”.
I Report (-: You Whine )-:
August 4th, 2009
3:13 pm
RW- How did Oregon vote on gay marriage? They could be the new deliverance up there.
~~~~~
TN- The Sled is a reminder of the good old days long since passed.
We would never part.
Unless you got 60,000 grand.
stands for decibels
August 4th, 2009
3:14 pm
If we want to get one of them off the road why can’t we buy one from somebody that needs some cash as long as it can [be] shown that somebody was driving that vehicle.
Probably because the “we” here, likely, would’ve included car-flipping schemes to effect that outcome, presumably financed by some shady fly-by-night outfits, which would have been (justifiably) lambasted.
Funny thing is, I could’ve sworn it some conservative regular (obviously not you) who had raised concern about that very thing occurring, back when Jay first posted about this program.
TnGelding
August 4th, 2009
3:15 pm
Wyld Byll Hyltnyr
August 4th, 2009
3:02 pm
Why not expand it to include all the former presidents? They all contributed to this mess.