The “clunkers” are real assets owned by people. They have a certain value, probably about $1000/car. We won’t ever know, because I guarantee they are not keeping track (or if they are, it’s of some imaginary figure, not based on market reality).

The government is borrowing $4500 to destroy those cars, thus taking that $1000 out of the economy. Poof, gone.

The government is pushing a bubble on the used car market. Why sell a used car for $500 when you can trade it in and get $4500? That won’t effect every car, but it does push prices up, up, and out of the reach of people struggling to buy bottom-rung transportation.

The $4500 goes to pay for a new car, thus inflating the price of new cars. It doesn’t make new cars $4500 cheaper, since the car dealer is still free to set his price at whatever the market will bear. Since people not participating in the Clunkers program don’t know what participants are paying and vice versa, there is no reason to lower the price at all — those in the Clunkers program can still afford whatever they could afford without the government check.

And the new cars being sold will have lower resale value, both because they aren’t as substantial and because when they are resold there will presumably be no government program to artificially inflate their price again.

Even more so because of recent news (today on Fox) that the Obama administration has REFUSED to release the documents which would answer them.

Transparency, Hell!

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/73048.html

makes a majority.”?

I read the article. What a pathetic bunch of “leaders” we have in our Party in the Senate.

Not one would step up.

Just pathetic.

Thank you.

ColdWarrior

This is what happens when Republicans do not stand by the principles in our Platfrom and defend the rights of the people as set forth in the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Watch Russ Carnahan defend the idiotic and unconstitutional “Cash for Clunkers” program by relying on “it’s got bi-partisan support” and his cowardice in the face of his constituents’ desire to ask him questions about it at a car dealership. Hat tip to Dana Loesch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2ZjdwU5wsY&feature=player_embedded

http://thedanashow.wordpress.com/2009/08/04/russ-carnahan-rattled-at-cash-for-clunkers-presser/

Thank you.

ColdWarrior

Pathetic.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D99T33IG2&show_article=1

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Senate reached a deal on saving the dwindling “cash for clunkers” program late Wednesday, agreeing to vote on a plan that would add $2 billion to the popular rebate program and give car shoppers until Labor Day to trade in their gas-guzzlers for a new ride.

Following lengthy negotiations, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats and Republicans had agreed to vote on the plan Thursday, along with a series of potential changes to the bill, which was passed by the House last week. Reid has said Democrats have enough votes to approve the measure and reject any changes that would cause an interruption in the rebates of up to $4,500.

Reid said the agreement “accomplishes what we need to accomplish.”

Late Wednesday, it was not clear that any of the proposed amendments stood a chance of passing. Some of them included placing an income limit on those benefiting from the vouchers and requiring the government to sell off its stakes in General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC.

Any Senate changes to the bill would require another vote in the House, something that couldn’t take place until the House returns in September from a monthlong recess.

The government said Wednesday that more than $775 million of the $1 billion fund had been spent, accounting for nearly 185,000 new vehicles sold. President Barack Obama has said the program would go broke by Friday if not replenished by Congress.

That’s the same day the Senate was to follow the House into the August recess, a looming break that Senate leaders often use to prod their colleagues past standoffs.

“We all acknowledge there’s a significant majority that want to move forward with this legislation,” Reid, D-Nev., said earlier in the day, adding that he has the votes to approve the House-passed version as is.

His Republican counterpart, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, concurred that the matter would be settled soon. And objectors conceded they do not have the votes to force all of the changes they want, or to block the House version of the bill.

“My guess is, at the end of the day, it will pass,” said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., who called it an example of “Congress choosing winners and losers among industries.”

The program offers car buyers rebates of between $3,500 and $4,500 for trading in their gas-guzzlers for new, higher-mileage models.

The new funding would triple the cost of $1 billion rebate program and give as many as a half-million more Americans the chance to grab the new car incentives through September.

Car companies have credited the clunkers program with driving up sales in late July. Most consumers are buying smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles under the program, according to a list of the top-10 selling cars released Wednesday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Among manufacturers, General Motors Co. had the largest share, accounting for 18.7 percent of new sales, followed by Toyota Motor Corp. with 17.9 percent. Ford Motor Co. was third with 16 percent of the sales. Detroit automakers represented 45.3 percent of the total sales while Japan’s Toyota, Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. accounted for 36.5 percent.

The Toyota Corolla is the top-selling vehicle on the list, followed by the Ford Focus, Honda Civic, Toyota Prius and the Toyota Camry. There is one SUV on the list, the Ford Escape, which also comes in a hybrid model that can get up to 32 miles per gallon. Six of the top-10 selling vehicles are built by foreign manufacturers, but most are built in North America.

Among states, Michigan has taken most advantage of the program, requesting more than $44 million in vehicle vouchers. California dealers had requested nearly $40 million in vouchers, and Ohio had sought nearly $38 million.

Senate passage would send the legislation to the White House for Obama’s signature and assure consumers there will be no interruption in the program that has led to packed car dealerships nationwide.

The deals are aimed at boosting auto sales, which have been at their lowest levels in two decades.

___

On the Net:

Car Allowance Rebate System: http://www.cars.gov

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The Party is at half-strength. These are the “principled conservatives” we end up with as a result.

We can’t even beat these clowns on this idiotic, unconstiutional wealth transfer legislation when the country is bankrupt.

Please get in the fray and become a precinct committeeman.

Thank you.

ColdWarrior