It's official. The "Cash for Clunkers" program is a "success," with so many buyers rushing to take advantage of it that, after only a few days, Congress is already preparing to steal money intended for energy loan guarantees to keep the spigots running. (Not to worry, they'll "seek to replenish" the energy program money later.)
A while back, I panned this program as a really, really bad idea. Now, I have to admit I'm surprised that so many people are rushing to take advantage of the program. What the surging throng proves to me is that there's a lot of money out there in people's pockets, so they could have bought a new car any time. But free money is always popular. The main positive result is that dealers appear to be happy with the increased traffic in their showrooms. Taking that into consideration, I have to say...
It's STILL a bad idea. I don't see why all of us need to pay to reward those who probably would have bought a vehicle anyway, or to doubly reward those who bought gas-guzzlers and got a tax writeoff for it. I believe the car-maker bailouts were probably justified, but having done that, do we really still need to do more for the automotive industry?
Fuel consumption savings were originally cited as a rationale for the plan, but no one is talking about that any more, and in any case, the fuel economy standards for the rebates range from moderate (for the best case scenario of a passenger car with very high fuel consumption getting turned in for another passenger car with much better mpg) to a joke (in the case of light trucks). So it's not about saving gas.
No, the goal is votes, and every incumbent Congressman who supports the program is hoping to buy himself a few votes with your and my money. Back in the heyday of political machines in cities like Chicago or Tammany Hall in New York, as I recall votes could be bought for five bucks or so. Isn't $4500 a little steep?
If we're going to proceed with the plan and pour more money into it, the least Congress might do is to streamline the paperwork and payment process. But this is the same government that devised the program to distribute those rebate cards for digital TV converters, when you had to apply and wait weeks (or months). I predict efficiency won't suddenly overwhelm the process.