Harkin [and Durbin] Proposes $10K Auto Purchase Rebate (Get a load o' this!)

KCCI, Des Moines ^ | 1:39 pm CST December 12, 2008

[longtermmemmory]

if they want to create a demand for PRIVATE PASSENGER VEHICLES,

END THESE ABSURD MASS TRANSIT SCAM PROGRAMS.

governemnt logic is an oxymoron.

[rellimpank]

---yeah---My plan has been to drive it with the title and registration, along with a bill of sale made out to "whom it may concern" on the dash. When failure occurs, get out and hitchhike home.

Harkin may cause me to reconsider---

[newgeezer]

People in this income category should not be buying new cars!

You, sir, are obviously one of those greedy, evil, conservative rich b*st*rds! /sarc

That "Ol' Populist" Dungheap Harkin would be only too happy to set you straight by saying you're oppressing people who are entitled to new cars.

[Travis T. OJustice]

You, sir, are obviously one of those greedy, evil, conservative rich b*st*rds! /sarc

Thank you, sir, but I do not buy new cars. I want to become rich.

[exit82]

The inmates truly are running the asylum.

The Founding Fathers and their generations are amazed we haven’t marched on DC and thrown these bums into the Potomac yet.

[IYAS9YAS]

i see the price of cars going up at least 10K in the near future...

Be the first on your block to own the new base-model Aveo from Chevrolet! Only $25,500.

[Travis T. OJustice]

Are you kidding? Who would sell you a running car for $400.00?

I've bought them in the past for pretty cheap money for (unsanctioned) demolition derbies. There's nothing quite like getting half-buzzed with a half dozen friends and smashing the hell out of cars and letting the cops watch, knowing they can't do anything but laugh.

[sono]

See ... that lady was right ... now that Obama’s elected, the government will pay for gas.

[newgeezer]

> Are you kidding? Who would sell you a running car for $400.00?

I've bought them in the past for pretty cheap money for (unsanctioned) demolition derbies.

I'm sure his point was, those $400 cars will quickly cost at least $5400 when this government "solution" is in place.

[MarkT]

I remember Delta and a bunch of others airlines went bankrupt and they seem to be about 95% full whenever I fly. Total bs argument promoted by the UAW and its poitical whores.

[Travis T. OJustice]

I fully agree, and that was my first thought when I started to read this dreck.

[lacrew]

“To get the rebate, you would be required to turn in a car more than 10 years old that is still drivable.”

If its still driveable, doesn’t it go right out on the lot and eventually on the road again...doesn’t make sense if this is supposedly getting older cars off the road.

Look for alot more ‘tinkering’ after the bailout.

[EQAndyBuzz]

“The Sell Fuel Efficient Cars Act would provide a rebate of $10,000 to buyers who trade in a car more than 10 years old for a new American car. “

Well as long as Infiniti has plants in the US, I am all for it.

/sarcasm

[Ragnar54]

While all of these bailouts and other forms of welfare for the undeserving are being discussed, heroic men and women in our Armed Forces are risking and sometimes losing everything for their country. They are paid an abysmally small wage and will return to find that whatever money they have saved is worthless due to the coming inflation (due to government printing presses working overtime).

If printing and "injecting" money into the economy is so important, why not give it to someone who deserves it? There are approximately 2 million WOT vets. Giving each one $20,000 would cost "only" $40 billion. If targeting the use of the money is necessary, make it a $20,000 credit towards the purchase of any new car assembled in the USA. But the Republicans might be labeled the "opposition" party for proposing such a thing. It's one thing to risk IED explosions; the wrath of newspaper editors is evidently much more to be feared.

This approach to "stimulating" the economy might mean less up front for the bankers. But they would end up with it eventually (they would just have to work for it). In the meantime, some deserving Americans would receive a very small token of appreciation for their service.

[CodeToad]

Every beater just became a $10,000 car! Idiots! This is nothing but a $10,000 vote buying giveaway.

[mono]

They will never get my 73 El Camino, 84 Buick Riviera convertible, 95 Caprice cop car, 96 Impala SS or seven more that are 10 years or older. I will hide them in the woods if they come after them!

[philled]

Why is the government trying to encourage low-income people to buy new cars? Our AGI is well over that threshold and one of our primary vehicles is over 10 years old. Even with a $10K “rebate” I’m still not interested in buying a brand new “qualifying” vehicle. I would have absolutely less than no interest if our AGI met the criteria- it seems foolish to me.

[Ancesthntr]

i see the price of cars going up at least 10K in the near future...

No kidding. One needs only to look at what has happened to the price of tuition over the last 30-40 years to figure out that subsidies increase the price of whatever is subsidized. And if you aren't one of those receiving the subsidy, you are well and truly f'd.

Oh, besides the issue of where is the money going to come from? $10K x 10 million cars (over, let's say, a 3 year period) equates to $100 billion. It is far cheaper to simply give the companies $40 billion and bribe the union leaders with another $1 billion to sell out their retirees - then, at least, there will be money to retool and a permanent solution to our lack of price competitiveness.

[Redbob]

"The used car market is a good place to be these days."

Not so if you own a late-model car getting over 25 mpg - this move would devalue your car by $10,000...

[headstamp 2]

It’s official, the government will now buy the cars nobody wants.

The first model will be called the American Zil.