Thursday, August 13, 2009
|
|
Clunkers Update: It's Even Worse Than We Thought It Was
|
|
Posted by:
Jillian Bandes at
12:30 PM
|
This isn't surprising: some cars at the very edge of the margins of the government's fuel-efficiency requirements are being bought with cash-for-clunkers money. The Ford F-150 truck and the Cadillac SRX Crossover, which weighs over 6,000 pounds when loaded and have 248 horsepower, are being purchased with government dough. I'm not sure how much longer the lie of environmental activism can be kept alive....
|
|
|
Ford must of called about 5 times wanting me to cash in my 97 F150 with the promise of "up to" $4,500 of Obama Bucks. |
|
Were there limits on what kind of car you could buy with your 'clunker' money? If there were, somebody should have left off hogs like the F-150.
Still, it's entertaining to read conservatives complaining that the government was allowing people to buy the car they wanted. |
|
were down 12% from last year at the same time...even with clunkers program that sent millions of dollars to foreign countries.
Good program! |
|
My neighbor's kids today:
"How do you like the new Prius I bought with $4,500 from the cash for clunkers program. I also benefited from a state sales tax holiday."
My neighbor last year:
"Of course I'm voting for Obama. Look at these deficits under Bush."
Moral of the story:
A federally subsidized car in the hand beats two terms of Bush... and any sense of fiscal responsibility, parental responsibility, and responsibility toward your fellow man.
|
|
|
The law is 125 pages long, and was supposed to cut Co2 emissions. If the jack*ss's in congress can't even get this right how will they get cap and tax, and Odumbo care right? |
|
|
Traded in my 14 year old Pathfinder for a Ranger in April. Got 2000 for it. If I'd just held on...course it was a bit undriveable- the frame had separated. |
|
The rule for evaluating ANYTHING that the white house does is to:
1) Totally disregard what is said
2) Follow the money trail
Applying this to CARS
This has nothing to do with the environment. Why not? Because they said it does.
Who benefits: UAW. New cars are selling and the inventory of used cars is being destroyed.
|
|
The rule for evaluating ANYTHING that the white house does is to:
1) Totally disregard what is said
2) Follow the money trail
Applying this to CARS
This has nothing to do with the environment. Why not? Because they said it does.
Who benefits: UAW. New cars are selling and the inventory of used cars is being destroyed.
|
|
"Were there limits on what kind of car you could buy with your 'clunker' money? If there were, somebody should have left off hogs like the F-150."
I believe the mileage for the new truck/minivan has to be only 2-5 mpg more than the old. Not too hard to find if you have an older truck.
"Still, it's entertaining to read conservatives complaining that the government was allowing people to buy the car they wanted."
Conservatives are complaining because: 1) people are buying the car they want WITH OUR TAX MONEY; and 2) it just shows what a farce this "saving the environment rhetoric" is.
In the end, we know it is nothing more than a crafty form of corporate welfare. (Why is that you leftists are only against big business when Republicans control the government?) The ironic part is that a great deal of this sneaky corporate bailout is going to Toyota and Honda, foreign auto companies. |
|
If the purpose of "Cash for Clunkers" was to remove gas guzzlers (like my F150) and gross polluters (not like my F150 which I've taken good care of) from the road to reduce our carbon footprint, global warming, yada, yada, yada, it's "failing" to use a favorite leftian/MSM term regarding anything Bush.
Riders is correct in declaring a new vehicle 3-5 mpg better than the so-called clunker qualified for Obama Bucks. However the O-bucks amount is on a sliding scale I believe dependent on the mpg delta. People are using the program to purchase vehicles in a manner that does little to "fight" global warming, hence I and most others object to people getting a gimme from my future taxes and devalued money to buy another huge car they probably can't really afford and will pour money into destined for the Hugo Chavez' and Wahabi's of the world. Another potential backfire of this program is how many auto loan defaults are pending due to this mad dash to spend, spend, spend without consideration of affordable cash flow? Candy in moderation is just unhelpful, but overdoses like this are just plain bad for one's health.
Far as the clunker's future, sux to be a clunker. Its carbeuarator (sp?) receives a lethal injection of silica and is run until the engine blows up thereby removing the vehicle from the resale market typically shopped by those unable to afford a new car even with Obama Bucks.
The program does little to help the environment and even littler to relieve the country's debt burden. |
|
OK, so we know that there were questionable standards on what kind of car could replace the "clunker," and that at least some people were buying inappropriate vehicles.
But environmental protection was only part of the goal. The other was to stimulate car sales, and it did that quite successfully.
Now, you can argue that the plan was not a good idea, but the fact remains that it accomplished what it set out to do. Yet just this morning on the radio I heard another town hall ranter say "How can the government run health care when it can't run cash for clunkers?" There has never been any hint of mismanagement: the program met its own standards of success. But there they go again: people repeating the lies they hear in the right wing echo chamber. |
|
But environmental protection was only part of the goal. The other was to stimulate car sales, and it did that quite successfully.
____________________________________________
and more profits are sent to foreign countries. Yup that really helps. Someone said that we would save about 80 million dollars in fuel savings from this program. Only the government can spend 1 Billion ( billion!!!) dollars to save 80 million dollars and call it a success!
Amazing! |
|
|
|