Posted on 08/03/2009 8:40:35 PM PDT by PhatHead
The popular Cash for Clunkers program maybe stimulating the U.S. economy, but it's also apparently driving down revenue for one North Texas non-profit organization.
With more and more people trading in their 'clunkers' for federal rebates, the Texas Can Academy is having to shift gears, to find some much needed cash.
The organization encouraging you to "Write-Off The Car, Not The Kid," is itself in jeopardy of being written off.
"This right here is the heartbeat of the organization. I need to make this money so these kids can be in our campuses. That's a lot of students who aren't going to be taken care of," Cheryl Rios of Texas Can said about her organization's struggles to turn a profit.
Texas Can relies heavily on the donation of old cars. When they're donated to Texas Can, those cars are in turn auctioned off and the money is used to help young kids complete their high school education.
"It's a half-day program. A lot of our kids are working full-time, they're pregnant, so they just need some extra help," said Rios.
But with the creation of the federal Cash for Clunkers program, Texas Can donations have dropped significantly. Just for the month of July, Texas Can donations are down $100,000.
"We need to fill that hole. We need to be able to make that revenue up somehow," Rios said of the dilemma facing Texas Can.
When residents make a donation to Texas Can they get to write off the amount their car gets at auction on their taxes. The amount can range anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars. In comparison, the Cash for Clunkers guarantees owners up to $4,500 towards the purchase of a new, fuel-efficient car.
The Cash for Clunkers program is so appealing that some donors are bypassing Texas Can and driving down the organizations bottom line. "We obviously want the economy stimulated, but in the big planning of it all, it wasn't thought about how it would affect non-profits that rely heavily on car programs," says Rios.
For now, Texas Can organizers are hoping donations will pick up once the government program reaches the end of its road.
Texas Can has been in North Texas for 25 years and has six campuses in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
In the long run this will hurt. There are no free lunches.
In the short run it is already hurting...
Not many people commenting on how this program will hurt the poor, by taking used cars and parts off the market by scrapping them instead of allowing dealers to resell them.
Interesting, and sad, that it is also hurting a charitable organization that depends on donate cars, too.
Don’t be fooled, it’s all part of the plan...complete reliance on the gubberment for EVERYTHING. Not enough parts means oops you have to buy one of these “efficient” cars, etc...forced choices are not truly choices.
There are stories in Tennessee about the increase in unemployment benefits making folks ineligible for food stamps. It seems Bambi and his minions are hurting the very people they portend to protect.
A very good friend of mine is in a jam. Despite graduating Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Economics from a pestigious University, the economic meltdown cost him his job and health problems with his wife cost her her job. He now supports his child and wife cleaning cars at a dealership.
So he finds a 97 T100 truck with 170K that runs well. It is one of the only trucks with a rear bench seat that he can afford. No matter how much he wanted that truck, the dealer poured solvent in the engine to destroy it for “cash for clunkers”
My point is that whenever government becomes involved in business, even for altruistic reasons, they are just in the way. I have yet to meet the business owner who said “gee, if the government came in and told me what to do, everything would be peachy”
Laissez faire is the way to make money and employ workers, get government down to its Constitutionally prescribed size. The only downside is that the perpetually lazy will starve, but I never gave a damn for them.
Further down it tells us, “U.S. auto sales overall,,,, fell 12 percent from a year earlier.”
Still further down we read, “Chrysler posted a 9 percent sales decline for July. GM sales were down 19 percent.”
“Sales for Toyota Motor Co were down 11 percent; Honda Motor Co was off 16 percent and Nissan Motor Co sales fell 25 percent.”
“Hyundai Motor Co posted a nearly 12 percent sales gain for July.”
It would appear, as per the supplied numbers, our “Cash For Clunkers” would be more aptly labeled the “South Korean Bailout Act.”
Curiously enough, below the article is a link to a video report, More GM Layoffs Likely, Company Says
Again, why are our tax dollars being given away like this?
I cannot afford to buy a new car. I must look at good used cars to consider a purchase. How many perfectly good used cars were “killed” this past week?
What proportion of their former donations were cars or trucks that would have even qualified under the gummit clunker program? I would be leery of casting blame (even though the CARS program is a royal boondoggle) before looking at such details. It might just be a down economy where people are choosing to keep older cars longer.
Funny thing is, most of the cars I have seen on used car lots in the last few months would not qualify under the government program as a “clunker.”
You nor I can afford a new car but the gubmint believes you and or I can afford to give our neighbors $4500 off the purchase of them a new car.
This whole thing stinks!!
I was hoping to upgrade my 01 Expedition to an 05 Expedition next year, At this rate The communist will have them all shredded and I will have to keep my 01 without any parts to fix it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.