Cash for Clunkers

[Bob Campbell]

Make that .03 cents then. Buy a hundred cars and it gets to 3 cents. I'll toss in my share.

It's even less, I make the estimate $0.003, three tenths of one penny per car, per person. But that's not the point, is it? The cost is a red herring in this argument.

Then, since we're playing the " I only want my tax dollars to pay for things I specifically approve of", I'd like my share of the more than one trillion spent in Iraq back.

Red herring. National Defense is a legimate Constitutional function of government, that benefits everybody. Wealth transfer through subsidization is not.

That's all I've got to say on the subject.



http://www.usdebtclock.org/

Sorry, I don't see anything in Iraq that defends my nation.

[AmpedNow]

We might as well work on more subsidy programs to provide the poor and those with bad credit brand new GMs and Chryslers, since they normally can't afford anything new. There won't be many used cars left for them to buy, and $4500 still isn't enough to help them out.

And maybe expand it to everyone else that has a job.

I want to junk my shitty Corolla for one of those new Green 19 MPG DurangOs.

[genlock]

WASHINGTON (AP) - Congressional officials say the government plans to suspend the popular "cash for clunkers" program amid concerns it could quickly use up the $1 billion in rebates for new car purchases.

The Transportation Department called congressional offices late Thursday to alert them to the decision to halt the program, which offered owners of old cars and trucks $3,500 or $4,500 toward a new, more fuel-efficient vehicle.

The congressional officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Through late Wednesday, 22,782 vehicles had been purchased through the program and nearly $96 million had been spent. But dealers raised concerns of large backlogs in the system, prompting the suspension

[cgarison]

I think the program was suspended because the feds realized that they had 23,000 vehicles and can not find a place to dump the cars with vitrified motors after they have sodium silicate dumped into the crankcase. The junk value for the clunkers as scrap is about $288.00 and the cost to detox the "clunker" is $200 prox. So this means the US government just acquired 23,000 cars that nobody wants to purchase because there is no money in the program scrap the cars.

Whoops!

EDIT!

Link to the article referenced above: http://jalopnik.com/5324812/cash-for-cl ... -recyclers

Looks like the program is going to stay. I have not seen any official statement from the feds this morning but it has been all over most news outlets.

[Lester]

House Approves $2 Billion Boost for 'Cash for Clunkers' Program
The House approved an additional $2 billion Friday for the financially strapped "cash for clunkers" car-rebate program, whose early success threatened to sink the system.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/07 ... s-program/

"If there was an 'extra' $2 billion in a stimulus program that was suitable for a different purpose, why did we spend the $2 billion in the first place? How many other billions of dollars are in the stimulus not being spent that we can return to the taxpayers?" - Rep. Jerry Lee

[Bob Campbell]

Approximately 500 billion of the stimulus not yet spent.
Interesting comment on CNBC today from Goldman Sachs bigwig who said it looks like the stimulus is beginning to work.
I know you hate to hear that.
Did I mention how us taxpayers made a 23% profit on the bailout money given to Goldman Sachs. Not a bad ROI for 7 or 8 months.

[Lester]

Sweet! 7-8% ROI, I can expect a bigger tax refund, right?

[Bob Campbell]

23% ROI.
If you work your withholding correctly you shouldn't get any tax refund. Get the money now and put it in an interest bearing account. Why let it sit for most of the year?

Now admit it, you guys are just pissed because it's working and it's from my guy, not yours.
It doesn't take a penny out of your pocket, it's stimulating car sales and ancillary services, and helping save jobs. All terrible things right?

[Lester]

My withholding is pretty tight, I do play that game... which means I should get even MORE back until I adjust my withholding for this new, lower tax rate, right? All this money we're making, less need to hold on to what they've taken thus far, right?

It's actually not *your* guys, it's the work of an America hating Brit named Keynes.

And it won't last long. Dem's love to spend, any turn-around we see will be sucked back into government programs supported by tax increases.

And anything Obama might give us, those of us in NC will owe to Bev Purdue. Apparently $60k is the new million, in her eyes.

[AmpedNow]

Now admit it, you guys are just pissed because it's working and it's from my guy, not yours.
It doesn't take a penny out of your pocket, it's stimulating car sales and ancillary services, and helping save jobs. All terrible things right?

It doesn't bother you that all of these "clunkers" must be destroyed? Seriously, what the hell for? To save an iceberg?

The conspiracy side of me says that an intentional result of this is to force a sizable chunk of the population into carpools and public transportation -- namely, the poor, who will have fewer affordable vehicles available to them.

Probably not the case, but will there be a stimulus program to give all these walking poor people brand new GMs and Chryslers?

I think the economic boost will be good, although it will only last until the funds run out.

I voted for "your guy", but I'm becoming spooked by the Orwellian shadow this administration is taking on.

[Hoosier Daddy]

I think that regardless of who won the November 2008 election, you'd be seeing some significant federal dollars being spent on bailout packages along with some hardcore discussion about the national health care fiasco and our long-term involvement in the affairs of Iraq and Afghanistan.

[Lester]

I think that regardless of who won the November 2008 election, you'd be seeing some significant federal dollars being spent on bailout packages along with some hardcore discussion about the national health care fiasco and our long-term involvement in the affairs of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Agreed. Too bad the "alternate universe" of the comics doesn't exist. I would be kind of cool to see how the world looked 10 years from had the other party won. ("other" being whichever one you didn't vote for.)