Cash for Clunkers Crash

I find the whole "Cash for Clunkers" program to be somewhat humorous. Granted, since I was looking for a new car not long ago (bought my purty, new Honda CR-V in March) and already went through all the rigamarole of buying, maybe I still have a sour taste in my mouth. I also wouldn't have qualified for this deal, since the trade-in 'clunker' had to only get 18 miles or less to the gallon to qualify for the program. Not so with my old Accord - it was a trooper and got upwards of 30 mpg.

Anyway, since rolling out this Brilliant Obama Scheme (the bill was passed in mid-June) the government's already out of funds - or close to it. Since there was $1 billion at stake, it begs the question of whether or not They did a good job of a) estimating the demand and b) figuring out the qualifications.

In a tight economy, people came out of the woodwork to buy their new, more fuel-efficient cars under this Car Allowance Rebate System. But, again, the requirements weren't that hard to reach in an SUV-saturated market. My husband's Durango only gets ~18 miles to the gallon...all he'd have had to do is purchase an SUV crossover (or whatever they're called, like my CR-V) to qualify for at least the $3,500 cash allowance.

What's interesting is the following statement from today's news:

In a joint statement Thursday night, Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, argued it might be possible to revive the program, but that new vehicles under the plan should face tougher standards.

"The extraordinary reaction to the 'Cash for Clunkers' program demonstrates that consumers do want to purchase more fuel efficient, less polluting vehicles," they said. (from ABC News, read the full article here)

What these obtuse idiots don't realize is people don't give a damn about the environment in this case - they want MONEY, they want cheaper cars! Less poluting vehicles indeed...it's not as if these people were buying up the Prius or Smart Car. Let's be honest - the Cash for Clunkers program wasn't all it was cracked up to be. But hey, at least Obama's starting off on the right foot. Or, is it the left?