Posted on 08/04/2009 10:24:52 AM PDT by Cheap_Hessian
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration is refusing to release government records on its "cash-for-clunkers" rebate program that would substantiate—or undercut—White House claims of the program's success, even as the president presses the Senate for a quick vote for $2 billion to boost car sales.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Sunday the government would release electronic records about the program, and President Barack Obama has pledged greater transparency for his administration. But the Transportation Department, which has collected details about 157,000 rebate requests, won't release sales data that dealers provided showing how much U.S. car manufacturers are benefiting from the $1 billion initially pumped into the program.
The Associated Press has sought release of the data since last week. But the public and Senate Republicans demanding more information will have to wait for details because federal officials running the program don't have time to turn over data delivered by car dealers, said Rae Tyson, spokesman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
LaHood said in an interview Sunday he would make the electronic records available. "I can't think of any reason why we wouldn't do it," he said.
DOT officials already have received electronic details from car dealers of each trade-in transaction. The agency regularly analyzes the data internally, producing helpful talking points for LaHood, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs and other officials to use when urging more funding.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Transparency!
All you data bewrong to US!
The only transparency with this admin is it’s lies...
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration is refusing to release government records on its “cash-for-clunkers” rebate program that would substantiate—or undercut—White House claims of the program’s success
President Barack Obama has pledged greater transparency for his administration.
How is that hope and change working out for you Obama voters?
What would occur to you that makes you believe The Joker lies?
His whole administration is one big shuck and jive act.
withholding documents
nah couldn’t be bozo and his admin could it I mean he said he would have a greater transparency
ARF
This is the most secretive admin ever , we don’t even know anything about his past let alone his real plans .
How about the clunker website where it states that if you accept to go forward then your PC becomes property of the Govt.
hen they change it when it was found out
yep true transparency,
“Obama promises most transparent administration ever”
AP turns on BO administration for the second day in a row. Hmmmm.
I have an acquaintance that works at a dealership and I can offer this anecdote on the program.
At this particular dealership what they saw were well healed buyers that had cash in hand. Examples included a 2001 Ford Taurus, loaded, w/ 53K miles. Buyer bought a similarly equipped new Ford Focus and paid cash. They drain the oil out of the “clunker” and pour a few quarts of sodium silicate in the crankcase, a.k.a liquid glass, and run the engine until it seizes. The car is then sent to be destroyed and as I hear it, the scrap is being sold to China, but I cannot verify that.
He indicated they saw no true clunkers and most of the buyers were cash buyers. I am sure in Obama’s eyes, he just bought a bunch of rich people cars.
I haven’t heard this mentioned, but wouldn’t this program hurt used car dealers? It applies to purchases of new cars only, doesn’t it? It seems to me that a lot of small business owners (used car dealers) are being financially damaged....and where I live many of them are immigrants! Obama program hurts immigrant-owned small businesses!!!
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.
Limbaugh (and Fox News Radio) just announced that 60% of the cars purchased via this program are Toyota, Honda and Hundai.
Liar!
Yes it does. Cars that would otherwise be sold to lower income people or those who just want a car they don’t have to make payments on for six years are being destroyed. Obama is the anti-Henry Ford. He wants America OFF wheels.
Looks like somebody at the AP wants to get kicked out of the White House press corps. The ‘Bama ain’t gonna put up with this!!
The only transparency I can find is an empty suit.
exactly!
Have they released the economy data, they refused to release weeks ago, yet?
America is known around the world for our car culture. Our freedom of movement. Our luxury.
He's said that we cannot go living as we have been. Not because the materials aren't there. We have it too good and must "pay".
Anyone filed a FOI request yet?
Yeah I noted that the AP has gotten off it’s knees for a moment.
Everyone should file a FOI act request and flood them with FOI requests
Before anybody authorizes more money, MAYBE GO OUT AND COUNT the new cars left of the dealer lots. ARE there enough new cars coming off the production lines to continue anything?
More towards Barry’s more open government and transparency.................................!
Why not just drop $100 bills out of a helicopter. These guys are economic morons!
Alright, we should try! Can I borrow your wallet?
Or Turkeys. Turkey’s fly, right? Les and Herb thought so.
Your thinking is counterrevolutionary comrade! One does not worry about silly things like cause and effect or supply and demand. That is retrograde Bourgeoisie thinking! In Obaminomics, one looks at voters bought. It's easy! Lets do the new-new math!
100 happy car buyers with taxpayer funded new car voucher
1 out of business used car dealer
---
99 net gain voters!
Thank you comrade for helping me get my mind right. As proof of my loyalty to the party and to Dear Leader I will turn in my grandmother to Cash for Codgers. She isn’t contributing enough to The Community.
Opacity is not Transparency!
Great.
More secret Obama information.
Apparently, our entire government is now the Secret Service.
I took my Jeep to the dealer yesterday afternoon for an oil change, and sat in the showroom to wait for it. I overheard the sales guys talking about this cash for clunkers thing, and one of them said “it’s getting worse”. Joker Obama isn’t fooling anyone around here.
HF
What else is new?
They’re transparent alright - we can see right through them.
He's clearly building a healthy skepticism about Obama's administration -- something that's been creeping up in various places in the media.
I've always kinda thought that the media's Obama thing would turn out to be a "Britney Spears" sort of affair ... they'll be happy to document the trainwreck in loving detail.
Leave Obama Alone!
If a poll were taken today, whom would people choose: Bill Clinton or Barack Obama?
Excellent comrade! Now you are following the New Way! Happy bailouts!
OT: Where we’re headed if we don’t stop these statists:
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/08/britain-to-put-cctv-cameras-inside-private-homes/
£400 million ($668 million) will be spend on installing and monitoring CCTV cameras in the homes of private citizens. Why? To make sure the kids are doing their homework, going to bed early and eating their vegetables.
...
It gets worse. The government is also maintaining a private army, incredibly not called “Thought Police”, which will “be sent round to carry out home checks,” according to the Sunday Express. And in a scheme which firmly cements the nation’s reputation as a “nanny state”, the kids and their families will be forced to sign “behavior contracts” which will “set out parents’ duties to ensure children behave and do their homework.”
Excellent screen cap and joker post!
As far as I can tell, no 2001 Taurus qualifies because they're all rated 19 or 20 EPA combined MPG. (The maximum to qualify is 18.)
Regardless, it looks like a sh*tload of "true clunkers" were traded-in to dealers around here, as demonstrated by the pieces of cr*p with "CFC" written on their windows parked in the area salvage yards.
Another example of ostammer “transparency.” What it is is a shell game. We have no idea what’s become of that money or any other money. We have no idea if the first funding of the program has run out or not. For all we know, ACORN may be pocketing a large portion of it. Meanwhile, car buyers are giving the feds access to their computers.
Don't know.
Fox News tonight reported that there are 157,000 claims against the Cash-for Clunkers fund. OK, my math comes up to 699+ billion. How does that exhaust the fund and demand another 2 million?
Look! Dealers don't have the equipment to scrap these cars. That's done by scrap dealers who depend on the salvage value of parts to supplement their profit. As it stands, salvage yards stand to gain zilch with this program. Unless the kitty is sweetened, no more drag and crunch unless the salvage operations get good bucks.
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