Posted on 08/01/2009 8:12:57 AM PDT by PureSolace
Press reports late Thursday said the government's Cash Allowance Rebate System could already be out of money, hitting a major speed bump and possibly causing dealers some drama.
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CARS works this way: Owners of a 1984 or newer vehicle getting 18 mpg or less in combined highway/city ratings can trade in their so-called "clunkers" for more fuel-efficient new cars (in some cases only a few extra miles are required). For their trouble, owners get $3,500 to $4,500 of taxpayer money and their old vehicles' engines are destroyed so they won't end up back on the road.
That last part, the destruction of engines, is causing heartburn for more than a dozen already hurting auto-parts suppliers who have had to file for bankruptcy this year. As Michael Wilson, executive vice president of the Automotive Recyclers Association, told a reporter, "Why throw away good parts when the supply chain is in jeopardy? It doesn't make a whole lot of sense." Catherine Tsai, in a story she wrote for Associated Press, reports that engines and drive trains account for 60 percent of recyclers' revenue from a used vehicle.
Tsai quotes various auto recyclers who prove the point that the government program benefits those who have enough money to pour into a brand new vehicle while hurting people who need help the most. Norm Wright, the CEO of Stadium Auto and Truck Parts Inc. in Denver, said of the program to destroy perfectly good vehicles, "Now you're removing cars people could afford, and they're not available anymore." He added, "There will be less cars to pull from, so the price of parts will go up."
It's unbelievable that the government has set aside $1 billion of taxpayer money to remove roughly 250,000 drivable vehicles from the road.
(Excerpt) Read more at oregonlive.com ...
So, you're mad at what the owners of these cars, i.e.: private property, are doing?
Are you equally mad at the drivers in a demolition derby for destroying their perfectly good cars, too?
How about guys who race cars and wreck them on the track or burn up their engines?
Who are you to say what anyone else does with their own property? If I want to sell my car to the government, knowing full well, that it will be rendered useless, then what business is it of yours?
Since you seem to feel so strongly about it, perhaps you could pony up a few billion dollars to buy them, instead.
How many cars from the 1930s are still on the road? From the 1940s? 1950s? 1960s? 1970s?
Guess what? This happens even without a government program.
No the junk yards are upset that they didn't get a freebie, just think, how many really good parts they would have had for free, if they only paid poundage for the car. These were suppose to be sold directly to the crusher to prevent the junk yard owners from recycling and playing games with id numbers and titles...
Since you seem to feel so strongly about it why don't you and your other union supporters just pony up the money and pay the tax payer back and have a real free market.
It would probably have been cheaper and wiser for the government to stimulate the economy by giving each TAXPAYER $2500 for us to spend as we wish. Or how about a two month holiday from paying federal taxes? It’s good to spread the wealth around (or so I’ve heard.)
No it doesn't. The program pays people to crush cars years before they would normally get crushed. This means fewer older cars on the road than without the program.
Not too hard to understand in my opinion.
Okay, now I get it. You’ve got some kind of grudge against Big Junkyard.
No one is mad at the car owners and the dealerships. If the govt offers you $4500 to crush a $1000 car, it’s only rational to have it crushed.
The problem is the government paying people to do this. Are you okay with the government using your tax dollar to subsidize other people’s car purchases? As a conservative you shouldn’t be.
This is nothing but a subtle leftist wealth redistribution program undertaken to accomplish certain political and social ends. It’s unprincipled, it distorts the market, it’s the Democrat-controlled government trying to look beneficent by handing out your tax dollars.
Your instinct should be to oppose this.
But you’re angry at your brother-in-law who owns a junkyard and that’s got your mind all warped.
Obama is playing the same economy destroying games that FDR played.
Like the eco-wackos care about the poor not having affordable cars
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I see this crap leading to the US becoming a nation of motorcycle riders, much like many asian countries. Used, older cars will become “evil”, small motorcycles will again become popular because it will be the only thing poor people can buy. Have any of you seen the photos of 4 or 5 people, a family, riding small motorcycles in Indian and other places? Welcome to third world USA, courtesy of the dimwit/communist party and Bozo the WH clown.
Can’t make an omlet without breaking some eggs!!! Even if the omlet turns out to be rotten.
If you don't like it, why don't you reign in the government who puts programs like this into place?
For which party did you vote in the last election? If you voted for an Repubipuke or a DemoCrap, then you aren't part of the solution. You're part of the problem because it was the Repubipukes and the DemoCraps who did this.
Really? From what source did you obtain the schedule of when cars 'normally' get crushed and how many fewer cars are going to be on the road as a result of this program as opposed to those that would be on the road without it?
Got a link you'd care to share with the rest of us rubes?
You don’t think paying people $4500 to have their car crushed will result in more cars being crushed?
How about water? Is it wet or...no?
As for the numbers involved, one billion divided by $4500 equals 222,000 cars. If Congress extends another 2 billion to the program, that’s 666,000 cars. And we’re talking about this many being crushed in a matter of months. If the program is made permanent and gets expanded, then it’ll easily be millions of cars a year, which will mean tens of millions in the course of a decade.
What is the worth of the cars being traded in?
The problem is the government paying people to do this. Are you okay with the government using your tax dollar to subsidize other people’s car purchases? As a conservative you shouldn’t be.
No, the government is merely offering people the money. It's still up to the individual whether they choose to participate.
People like you don't seem to have a problem with George W. Bush putting programs into place during his first term that are sending billions of US tax dollars to Mexico. At least with this program, Americans are getting US tax dollars. (For the record, the program Bush put into place that sends US tax dollars to Mexico is still in place --it's called the Partnership for Prosperty Agreement)
This is nothing but a subtle leftist wealth redistribution program undertaken to accomplish certain political and social ends. It’s unprincipled, it distorts the market, it’s the Democrat-controlled government trying to look beneficent by handing out your tax dollars.
As opposed to overt conservative wealth redistribution that Republican-controlled government put into place to hand out US tax dollars to Mexican illegal aliens and changing the banking laws to allow them into the US banking system to obtain credit cards, home, auto and business loans?
Your instinct should have been to oppose this, too. But, I'll bet your finely-honed instincts didn't stop you from voting for Bush --twice, thus giving him the political cover to continue and expand his wealth-redistribution programs going into his second term.
But you’re angry at your brother-in-law who owns a junkyard and that’s got your mind all warped.
If my brother-in-law wants a piece of this pie, then perhaps he should offer me more than $250 for my $1000 car.
What is the net-worth of each of the cars being crushed?
As for the numbers involved, one billion divided by $4500 equals 222,000 cars. If Congress extends another 2 billion to the program, that’s 666,000 cars. And we’re talking about this many being crushed in a matter of months. If the program is made permanent and gets expanded, then it’ll easily be millions of cars a year, which will mean tens of millions in the course of a decade.
George W. Bush and the Republican-controlled governement gave away to hundreds of billions of US tax dollars to Mexico and to Mexican illegal aliens and their programs are still giving away hundreds of billions of US tax dollars to Mexico and you're worried about a few billion going to US taxpayers?
You are penny-wise and dollar foolish. No wonder the country is in this state of disrepair.
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