Uncle Sam’s Cash-for-Clunkers program has already spent its allotted $3 billion, making it by government standards an instant success, and forcing Democrats to look for alternative ways to compensate auto retailers for the deeply-discounted deals they’ve made on some 457,000 vehicles.
Many car dealers have yet to receive a nickel from the federal government after waving goodbye to dozens of customers who drove off of their lots in new cars marked down by up to $4,500.
However, President Barack Obama today told dealers not to “worry about reimbursement because…”
READ THE REST AT The Washington Examiner
59 responses so far ↓
1 JamesonLewis3rd // Aug 21, 2009 at 1:47 pm
"…..from all I know about economics and business….."
Zip. Nada. Zilch.
He knows all about NASCAR, too.
God Bless America
2 RedPepper // Aug 21, 2009 at 9:52 am
Government cheese?
Or just more cheesey government?
Stay tuned …
3 RedPepper // Aug 21, 2009 at 10:04 am
Let’s see. Initially, Cash For Clunkers funding was 1 billion, then they added 2 billion more, tripling the cost, and the program is ending in mid-August, not early November as originally forecast ( or Labor Day, as they were projecting after they added the extra money ).
Wonderful. I can’t wait to see how well their Health Care projections work out …
4 boberinyetagain // Aug 21, 2009 at 2:07 pm
Happy days are here again!
At least until people get the payment book…and realize that instead of "saving" $4500 they actually "spent" $15-20,000 on a car and now…they have to pay it back.
Wait about 6 months for a really good deal on barely used cars near you…and watch while all auto workers get laid off for a while because no one wants a new car, they've got one and, it new wasn't your thing there will be boatloads of bargains in "hardly used" cars…because gas is heading back to $4/gallon shortly…so they truly will be barely used
5 RedPepper // Aug 21, 2009 at 10:39 am
boberin: You won’t see any “barely used” clunkers - they’re required to destroy ‘em.
But I’m sure there will be people who will default on the loan for the new car - just like the folks whose homes got foreclosed on …
6 Darthmeister // Aug 21, 2009 at 3:37 pm
I think informed Americans would be more than happy to spend $3 Billion to get the real clunkers out of the White House and Congress!
Jon Voight: Is Obama creating a Civil War in America?
Well, it certainly looks like things are shaping up that way no thanks to this purportedly great "Uniter" in the White House. If a civil war does ignite, the liberal Donks and left-wing nutcases only have themselves to blame because of their fascist attempts to cram their legislative agenda down our throats!
7 boberinyetagain // Aug 21, 2009 at 12:07 pm
Red, that’s what I’m referring to…the soon to be reposessed “clunkers” that folks are buying with my money. Meanwhile my 16 y/o car doesn’t qualify because it get 28 mpg…was obviously too advanced for its day…heck, it’s too advanced for today…not that many vehicles can match the mileage and those that can can’t touch the performance (1993 Dodge Shadow ES)
8 boberinyetagain // Aug 21, 2009 at 4:11 pm
purportedly great "Uniter" in the White House
liberal Donks
left-wing nutcases
fascist attempts to cram/agenda/throats
Hank, you really need to let your felling out, you shouldn't bottle them up. You'll make yourself ill. And we don't want that, we care about you…deeply
9 boberinyetagain // Aug 21, 2009 at 4:11 pm
"feelings" out, let your feelings out
10 onlineanalyst // Aug 21, 2009 at 4:16 pm
Hey, boberin, you are getting better at economics than the Prez. Kudos.
Irony of ironies: The biggest sellers in the C for C program are foreign automobiles, albeit many are manufactured here.
Some of the traded-in vehicles could have been spared the vicious deaths in order to salvage their parts in the spirit of recyclling. The working poor and young folks starting out of college kids could have bought those wastefully trashed cars as an affordable means of transportation.
Those folks who will get their new payment books will have a similar sticker shock over how much they will really pay over time just as the American taxpayer will over the $3 trillion expended in this boondoggle.
11 boberinyetagain // Aug 21, 2009 at 4:29 pm
This was indeed a poor idea on several levels…the old "unitnended consequences" don't seem that hard to discern…or perhaps they were just ignored…either way…dumb on many levels…not at all the least of which is how earth unfriendly it is to scrap one car and build another…among the worst things one can do "green" wise
Sigh…
12 Dave Hughes // Aug 21, 2009 at 4:56 pm
I'm worried about the fallout on recipient's like me. I previously owned three clunker vehicles and was able to use taxpayer money to get a new car. The C for C windfall may allow me to cancel my AAA towing plan and worries about what will break next. I expect to be outed soon in public records hack by disgruntles citizens that aren't happy and wonder "where's mine" I'll stop my previous promotion of C for C with friends and neighbors, and start putting my shiny new Nissan Versa in the garage before the revolution targets my windfall stimulus. I paid cash for my gimme and will wait to purchase another car from a repo lot when people realize the government won't pay for their gasoline or routine maintenance.
13 JamesonLewis3rd // Aug 21, 2009 at 5:02 pm
I wrote the quintessential comment of all time about ten minutes ago.
And it vanished.
But it Tweeted.
{sniffle} [insert sobbing emoticon here, please]
14 whizzer // Aug 21, 2009 at 5:15 pm
Talk about who is trying to jam what down people's throats - what planet were you on when the Bush/Cheney team was playing around in the DC Sandbox ?
15 whizzer // Aug 21, 2009 at 5:17 pm
Forget the clunkers … get rid of that fat belly hanging over your gut and walk !
16 onlineanalyst // Aug 21, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Here is a mashup of the Great Orator's famous speaking ability: "It's over!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJAbuwJOdPo
17 onlineanalyst // Aug 21, 2009 at 6:31 pm
Let's hear it for Obama's House of Czars: http://www.pjtv.com/?cmd=video&video-id=2333
18 Darthmeister // Aug 21, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Bober, why don't you first castigate the hypocritical name callers on your side of the aisle who are publicly on record condemning name calling while they do it themselves? Hasn't it been those sens-o-tive and compassionate liberals who proudly thump their chests about "taking the high road" who end up resorting to name calling when their "arguments" get shot down by some "uppity" conservative? I'm just holding up a mirror and acting no different than your vaunted Democratic movers and shakers and you condemn me for it!
Even your Democrat leaders like Pelosi and Reid have to lie about the presence of "swastikas" and a "Republican conspiracy" about those townhall meetings and we know exactly what they mean by such mendacious accusations … everyone protesting at those meetings are nothing more than a "right-wing mob" or worse, a Nazi. Yet the ones who were most vocal about opposing Obamacare at the townhalls have been blue dog Democrats, independents, and libertarians!
How about spending more of your time cleaning your own political house before you condescendinly tell us to clean ours.
19 JamesonLewis3rd // Aug 21, 2009 at 8:07 pm
I heard that the hero of the SDS/Democrat party and mentor of millions of leftists was mistaken for a jackass. I submit that this was no mistake.
I'll have a bowl of that Keystone Kops / Clockwork Orange hybrid stew, with a side of Metropolis, please.
20 boberinyetagain // Aug 21, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Hank, I dunno, thought you were “better” and “more virtous”
I’ve seen no name calling here lately…except yours so I though maybe you’d forgotten (ignored?) Scotts appeal for civility cause it seemed lacking in the post I cited, maybe that’s just me…
And for the 53rd time (and not the last I’m certain) they are not “my” democrats. I hold them in no higher regard than “your” republicans. They’d be “my” independents but those folks rarely act up.
As for health care baing just fine as it stands now, please tell me how this is sustainable?
“According to Families USA, a Washington nonprofit group that advocates for affordable health care, between 2000 and 2009 the cost of a family premium provided by an employer increased 95.2 percent while median income went up just 17.5 percent. To make matters more galling, workers get fewer benefits plus higher deductibles and co-pays for the extra money.”
Please be specific
21 boberinyetagain // Aug 21, 2009 at 8:57 pm
Danged…really Scott?
22 RedPepper // Aug 21, 2009 at 5:41 pm
Now that “Cash For Clunkers” has been such a runaway sucess, we need to come up with similar positive-sounding names for our health-care efforts. If it sounds good, it’ll be good - right?
No more of these ugly terms, like “death panels”! I mean, could you come up with anything more depressing?
How about some catchy & upbeat — like “Counseling For Curmudgeons”? Perhaps … “Tranquilizers For the Terminal”? Or maybe “Gas For Geezers”!
Think positive, folks!
23 RedPepper // Aug 21, 2009 at 5:52 pm
Sorry - something catchy & upbeat!
“Hemlock For the Hopeless”?
“Drugs For Dotards”??
24 gafisher // Aug 21, 2009 at 11:30 pm
Well and truly spoken, Bober. If just a fraction of what we've "spent" (obligated) on various bailouts and stimulus programs had instead been implemented as across-the-board tax cuts, the Democrat Party might well have had the majority for the next hundred years.
Thanks for the other ray of hope as well — like most people who would have liked to replace our uber-clunkers with the "program clunkers" which were driven in and destroyed, I welcome the prospect of those "hardly used" cars turning up on the market some day.
25 gafisher // Aug 21, 2009 at 11:33 pm
IntenseDebate is a misnomer. Instead of debate, its habit of misdirecting or simply vaporizing comments seems to promote hit-and-run toss-off comments. Really too bad, IMHO.
26 gafisher // Aug 21, 2009 at 11:39 pm
"… if cash runs out, we have warehouses across the land stacked high with government-surplus cheese …"
Right from the start, the whole C4C program had more holes than Swiss cheese. At least now we have a new way to describe our well-spoken Big Cheese: Velveeta® Voice suits him well.
27 gafisher // Aug 21, 2009 at 11:41 pm
Contrary to Obama's childish assertion, it seems his coterie of adoring yes-men has begun to be oui-oui'd out.
28 onlineanalyst // Aug 21, 2009 at 11:55 pm
Yes, indeed, gafisher, the porkmeisters and their fearless leader Obamao are like the little piggies that have wee, wee, wee'd all the way home.
Friday night's document dump indicates that we are two trillion more in our deficit than originally estimated. That news was dropped before the Obamas headed on out to their Martha's Vineyard vacation to frolic with the rest of the members of the bonfires of the vanities.
29 RAM1 // Aug 22, 2009 at 1:21 am
Government cheese? You are thinking too small Scott! I think Obama's next target for a government takeover will be a WalMart subsidiary "Sam's Club", then Prez O can rename it "Uncle Sam's Club" and give away a LOT more than just cheese!
Of course if you are a minority, and/or here illegally, you will be moved to the head of the line.
30 WhizBang // Aug 22, 2009 at 1:40 am
Hypocritical Name Callers ? Aren't you the President Emeritus of that Society Mr Darthmeister ?
31 WhizBang // Aug 22, 2009 at 1:41 am
You probably have forgotten to take your meds again !
32 Darthmeister // Aug 22, 2009 at 3:45 am
Obama Hikes Ten Year Deficit to Nine Trillion Dollars
Obama bootlickers - "That's okay, it's Bush's fault anyway."
33 SGT_USMC_1ea // Aug 22, 2009 at 3:46 am
Let me see-457,000 cars times at most $4500 only equals about 2 billion dollars- Can't be broke yet, and also they still have checks. Of course reimbursing a few thousand dealerships is much more difficult than administering national healthcare. If we go to single payer health care- ~300 million customers x $6000 a year = 1.8 trillion per year. All we have to do is tax those 300 million people $6000 extra dollars and WHAM!….FREE healthcare. What?…They don't all pay taxes? Well we will just gaur-awn-tee the healthcare providers we will pay them back later - confederate currency vouchers, if you will.
Deus est Semper Fidelis
34 SGT_USMC_1ea // Aug 22, 2009 at 3:59 am
Years ago my neighbor had a delightful boy who took meds, rode the short bus to school and participated in the Special Olympics. Why is it that it is mostly Liberals and kids who think it is an insult to "accuse" you of being someone with these life circumstances?
35 Darthmeister // Aug 22, 2009 at 4:20 am
Say WhizBang, where have I ever said conservatives should refrain from calling liberals names they deserve? Yet the public record is replete with liberals self-righteously thumping their chests about how no one should ever use labels, stereotypes or resort to name calling yet they hypocritically resort to such tactics when the going gets tough and they can't win arguments against conservatives. You know, "neanderthals", "throwbacks", "right-wing nutcases", "racists", "right-wingnuts", "homophobes", "sexists", "Rethuglicans", "Repugs", "reich-wing Nazis", "Dumbya", ad nauseam. And the highwater mark of the absolutely filthy liberal lies and name calling occurred when liberals smeared Sarah Palin with liberal filth like this.
36 Darthmeister // Aug 22, 2009 at 4:21 am
I may be a name caller but I'm no hypocrite like purportedly "enlightened" liberals. I decided about four years ago, after your side of the aisle's endless and stupid "Bushitler" rants that one of my missions would be to reflect back to liberal hypocrites their own propensity to engage in ad hominem attacks, yet never lowering myself to the absolute filth your side of the aisle wallows in when trying to shut down debate. You're in NO position to lecture any of us on civility while you remain mute (you probably privately rejoice when conservatives are "put in their place" with a putdown, eh? C'mon, admit it you smarmy troll) about the incredible filth that is engaged in on a daily basis by your side of the political aisle, pal.
37 SGT_USMC_1ea // Aug 22, 2009 at 4:57 am
Hank,
You were doing so well. I am sure that you realize this is reincarnated "L*ger" ad naseum. Just because everything you said is true does not make it relevant in the current venue. Well maybe it is true and relevant but it does not make it ok to FEED THE TROLLS. Well: maybe it is true and relevant and ok to feed the trolls but …..but… I don't know, maybe we are supposed to reflect back Jesus and not "the liberal hypocrites…own propensity to engage in ad hominem attacks". Now he will have to create a new identity to acknowledge his recent troll feast. Just smile and reflect on the fact that he respects you enought to spend 5 minutes creating a new Identity just to poke a stick into your scarred ribs.
My previous comment was auto deleted due to the inclusion of the trolls former name of Li*er. The next two comments were to determine which word caused the deletion.
Deus est Semper Fidelis
38 SGT_USMC_1ea // Aug 22, 2009 at 5:00 am
Hank,
You were doing so well. I am sure that you realize this is reincarnated "L*ger" ad naseum. Just because everything you said is true does not make it relevant in the current venue. Well maybe it is true and relevant but it does not make it ok to FEED THE TROLLS. Well: maybe it is true and relevant and ok to feed the trolls but …..but… I don't know, maybe we are supposed to reflect back Jesus and not "the liberal hypocrites…own propensity to engage in ad hominem attacks". Now he will have to create a new identity to acknowledge his recent troll feast. Just smile and reflect on the fact that he respects you enought to spend 5 minutes creating a new Identity just to poke a stick into your scarred ribs.
Deus est Semper Fidelis
39 SGT_USMC_1ea // Aug 22, 2009 at 5:01 am
everthink
40 SGT_USMC_1ea // Aug 22, 2009 at 5:07 am
neverthink
41 SGT_USMC_1ea // Aug 22, 2009 at 5:08 am
henning whizzer
42 RAM1 // Aug 22, 2009 at 8:09 am
Darth, You forgot "knuckle draggers", neo-cons, jackboots, "Bible thumpers", "tea baggers", and I am SURE I am leaving a LOT of others out also!
Oh and I forgot those that accuse dissenters from their way of thinking of "being off their meds". lol
43 SGT_USMC_1ea // Aug 22, 2009 at 5:02 am
Hank,
You were doing so well. I am sure that you realize this is reincarnated "L*ger" ad naseum. Just because everything you said is true does not make it relevant in the current venue. Well maybe it is true and relevant but it does not make it ok to FEED THE TROLLS. Well: maybe it is true and relevant and ok to feed the trolls but …..but… I don't know, maybe we are supposed to reflect back Jesus and not "the liberal hypocrites…own propensity to engage in ad hominem attacks". Now he will have to create a new identity to acknowledge his recent troll feast. Just smile and reflect on the fact that he respects you enought to spend 5 minutes creating a new Identity just to poke a stick into your scarred ribs.
Deus est Semper Fidelis
44 JamesonLewis3rd // Aug 22, 2009 at 10:54 am
Test
45 gafisher // Aug 22, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Box of Rocks, Sack of Hammers, and now this. I guess when someone's nothing they can be mistaken for anything (with possible apologies to G.K. Chesterton).
46 gafisher // Aug 22, 2009 at 12:32 pm
"… two trillion more in our deficit than originally estimated."
Well, Joe Biden admitted this administration is a little hazy when it comes to estimates.
47 gafisher // Aug 22, 2009 at 12:34 pm
"… and also they still have checks."
The problem is that the paper in those checks is worth more than the US dollars they represent.
48 gafisher // Aug 22, 2009 at 12:39 pm
"… they hypocritically resort to such tactics when the going gets tough and they can't win arguments …"
Exactly so — you know you've won the argument when a lib starts calling you names.
49 gafisher // Aug 22, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Speaking of John Voight, I wasn't particularly a fan until I saw him in this film<img class=" otsfyugptgyxdhxtgytp otsfyugptgyxdhxtgytp otsfyugptgyxdhxtgytp otsfyugptgyxdhxtgytp otsfyugptgyxdhxtgytp otsfyugptgyxdhxtgytp" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=spectrelectr-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B001FACHBE" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;">. His portrayal of George Washington as the authentically Christian leader he was brought tears to my eyes.
50 gafisher // Aug 22, 2009 at 12:17 pm
Speaking of John Voight, I wasn't particularly a fan until I saw him in this film,<img class=" otsfyugptgyxdhxtgytp otsfyugptgyxdhxtgytp otsfyugptgyxdhxtgytp" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=spectrelectr-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B001FACHBE" alt="" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important;" border="0" height="1" width="1"> in which his portrayal of George Washington as the authentically Christian leader he was brought tears to my eyes.
51 @JamesonLewis3rd // Aug 22, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Darthmeister~~
Kudos! on your achievement of the Highest Reply Tally in the History of Mankind!
I suspect something nefarious is afoot; I somehow doubt this comment will be posted, but Do Not Panic.
52 gafisher // Aug 22, 2009 at 12:58 pm
LOL! According to IntenseDebate, Darth's excoriation of the recurrent troll has so far netted him 4294967294 replies. I suspect that's a record, and that at least 4294967237 of them are in agreement. <G>
[Snapshot]
53 whizzer // Aug 22, 2009 at 5:13 pm
If anything they are aping your recurring filth, as you call it.
54 Whizzer // Aug 22, 2009 at 5:16 pm
Sarah Palin was a bit dumb to be put up for VP. McCain might have won if it weren't for her. The real name callers and political smut peddlers are the extremists on both sides ! Dumb as she was/is she did not deserve any of the extreme insults !
55 JamesonLewis3rd // Aug 22, 2009 at 5:46 pm
Full disclosure:
Cheese as currency doesn't necessarily sound that bad to me.
56 gafisher // Aug 22, 2009 at 7:39 pm
Oh yeah, so dumb in fact that she shot the mule from under years of socialized medicine machinations in one speech, with just two words. Death Panels, anyone?
57 RAM1 // Aug 23, 2009 at 12:27 am
I saw that too gafisher. I was afraid to click on it because I thought it might overload my RAM!
PS, I have also seen that there are 2 replies but when clicked on, there are only two.
Makes me wonder if the government are not the ones running Intense Debate.
58 RAM1 // Aug 23, 2009 at 12:28 am
I saw that too gafisher. I was afraid to click on it because I thought it might overload my RAM!
PS, I have also seen that there are 2 replies on a certain comment but when clicked on, there are only two.
Makes me wonder if the government are not the ones running Intense Debate.
59 Cars4Charities // Aug 24, 2009 at 5:15 pm
Cash for clunkers can't end soon enough for all who have hurt by it like mechanics, parts stores, used car dealers, car donation charities and the poor.
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