Despite being extremely wasteful and creating questionable environmental benefits, the government labeled the cash for clunkers auto program a successful program that exceeded expectations. It worked so well – why not subsidize (again) the housing industry while we’re at it? Detailed in Section 203 of the Waxman-Markey cap and trade bill is a program that subsidizes the purchase of new Energy Star qualified “manufactured homes” (homes built in a factory, such as mobile homes) for people currently living in manufactured homes built before 1976 (Sec. 203, b). Qualified recipients are …
Congress passed the Cash for Clunkers program in order to increase automobile employment and save jobs. As Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow – a key supporter of the law – put it, “This is a jobs program first.” Cash for Clunkers has done many things. It has given hundreds of thousands of Americans vouchers worth between $3,500 and $4,500. It has encouraged many Americans to trade in old cars now instead of waiting a few years. It has destroyed valuable used cars that dealers would have resold to low-income Americans. It …
Politicians are touting cash for clunkers as a successful program that has killed two birds with one stone. By handing out taxpayer money to subsidize a portion of the cost of a more fuel efficient vehicle, the program is saving the economy and saving the environment. Although the program increased consumer spending and increased fuel efficiency, the question should be: At what cost? It has been a bureaucratic nightmare laden with unintended consequences. And despite all its ‘success’, GM and Chrysler’s sales in August from a year earlier fell 20 …
Yesterday we linked to analysis from Naval Postgraduate School Associate Professor David Henderson detailing how the Obama administration’s Cash for Clunkers program destroys, on average, $3,450 of our country’s wealth every time a car is destroyed through the program. Today, Capital University Law School professor Brad Smith brings us videos of seven perfectly good cars all being sacrificed in the name of Obama’s “stimulus.” Watch: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lq99kSUR3Ss[/youtube]
The Obama administration’s Cash for Clunkers program is supposed to run through 8 PM tonight, but as the Wall Street Journal reports, dealers across the country are ending their involvement early. The reason? “They worry that if a last-minute rush to enter applications jams the system, they will be on the hook for rebates already given to customers.” And dealers have every reason to worry. Last week the National Automobile Dealers Association reported that the nation’s car dealers have already submitted $3.3 billion in “Cash for Clunkers” claims despite the …
From Bloomberg: “The U.S. “cash for clunkers” vehicle trade-in program, credited with reviving auto sales and criticized by dealers for slow reimbursements, will close on Aug. 24, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said.” The government extended the $1 billion program into a $3 billion program and although the program is now set to end Monday, the chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association has reservations the $3 billion will even last through the weekend. It remains to be seen what will happen to auto sales post cash for clunkers. Union leaders …
In this case Paul is the auto industry, as if they haven’t gotten enough help from American taxpayers, and Peter is the retail industry and, of course, the American taxpayer: “Retail sales outside of autos turned in a disappointing performance in July, underscoring concerns about the timing and durability of a recovery from the worst recession since World War II.The Commerce Department said Thursday that retail sales fell 0.1 percent last month. Economists had expected a gain of 0.7 percent. While autos, helped by the start of the Cash for …
“But don’t expect anyone in Congress to admit that taxpayers are paying around $6,000 to provide a $4,500 rebate for a foreigner or illegal immigrant to buy a new car. “ That’s Lurita Doan. She argues: “First, DOT created and staffed an entirely new organization with three divisions to administer the clunkers program. Second, the funding was allocated to cover extensive Help Desk telephonic support, promotional materials, mailers, travel, Web site development and maintenance. Plus, extensive administrative and managerial staffing was also funded. There is staffing to manage the contracts, …
Ken Belson of the New York Times provides some interesting data points on the cash for clunkers program: The “cash for clunkers” program introduced last week appears to have been a success, at least based on the tens of thousands of consumers who streamed into their local car dealers to swap their beaters for new, more fuel-efficient replacements. But there is more to the numbers than the headlines. According to a survey of car dealerships and 2,200 consumers by CNW Research, the average fuel economy of vehicles traded in last …
For a President who is supposed to be in tune with America, one has to wonder what Barack Obama is thinking! The latest polls show most Americans DO NOT WANT more cash for clunkers (only 33% want additional funding), which would benefit only a few people, most of them car dealers. But Americans overwhelmingly DO WANT missile defense, and they want it soon (78%, according to an April poll for Investors Business Daily; others find support near 90%). The most obvious disconnect is that the Administration wants another $2 billion or …
