So you know about Cash for Clunkers, the federal program with which you can trade a qualifying used vehicle for a $3,500 or $4,500 credit toward a qualifying new vehicle.
The alleged economic benefit is, in a general sense, the same old game of taking some water from the deep end of a swimming pool and pouring it in the shallow end. (And hey, let’s jack consumer debt up in a recession!) Redistributing taxpayer money (that really doesn’t exist anyway after the government has it, if we’re going to get, you know, technical about what deficit spending is) is hardly sound practice for long-term prosperity.
“Honk if I’m paying your mortgage!” What’s the difference?
There is supposedly an environmental benefit as well, though I haven’t seen any real analyses that include things like energy and resources expended to manufacture the new cars, just how much of our systematically destroyed “clunkers” are going to landfills, and so forth. The average fuel economy of cars on the road should go up, so it’s a Good Thing.
Never mind that such a belief may well be as sensible as spying a little garlic in a pan of lasagna and declaring it good for your heart.
Tell me something. Why is Cash for Clunkers not being decried as a merciless assault on the poor? It certainly looks like one to me. There are tens of millions of automobile consumers for whom $4500 is a lot of money. Are we doing them any favors, laying an artificial swath of destruction through their market segment? (Remember, the traded cars are destroyed!) Hell, I’ve never even come close to doubting where my next meal was coming from, and I didn’t own a car that was worth $4,500 until I was 28 years old.
So let’s see. Our benevolent government is telling us this is a good thing for everyone, when it may in fact be hurting everyone, and the poor disproportionately so. Gee, you know, I don’t have to squint much at all to see a parallel with radical environmental policies that strangle economic growth while providing no cumulative benefit, all on the backs of the poor (this time in India and China!).
Nah, that’s crazy talk. Right?
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According to a news report last night (although, who believes anything on the news these days??), the Tennessee Valley Recycling, LLC company will be handling a good amount of the clunker junking. http://www.tvrllc.com/
As for the program being an assault on the poor, *shrug* … I dunno. I do really like the idea of getting some of the gawd-awful, smoke-spewing rattletraps off the road. But will this really happen in practice, I dunno. Personally, I wish cars came with an expiration date (with stays of execution for proof of upkeep) or something like the banks do for tattered old paper money … just taken ’em outta circulation once they’ve given their all.
Personally, I think the program is a step in the right direction. Imperfect, yes, but a step.
@@ <— me, rolling my eyes at Transportation Secretary Lahood, who earlier said this program would help get lots of SUVs and gas guzzlers off the road. Then, on Hardball last night, Chris Matthews asked him what car he'd get right now and Lahood said a Ford Explorer 4WD.
1. um, his boss is gonna be mad that he didn't say a gm was the best car to buy
2. The 4WD version gets a whopping 13mpg city/ 19 mpg hwy
^^ <— me, throwing my hands up in the air in exasperation over YET
ANOTHER FUCKING hypocrite who wants to tell everyone ELSE how they should live.
wxchick: Please consider that maybe part of the reason that’s a good idea to you is because you can easily afford something nicer. You and I don’t have to drive pieces of crap, and it’s very unlikely we ever will.
John Hood had a great comment along these lines at The Corner today. It’s not a stretch to say this is a wealth transfer from the poor to the rich. How’s that for irony?
‘seester: That’s why they’re Our Betters. 😀
Why is it assumed that *every* clunker targeted by this program is owned by a near-destitute person?
And what if this program gives a person who desperately wants a more reliable car the opportunity to finally get into a better vehicle that they can afford?
Sure, there are going to be dealerships that pressure folks into getting more car than they can afford. Sure, there will be greedy folks who cash in just because they can and yet fully do not plan to make payments on the new car. Sure, there are poor folks who will look at this as a monetary windfall without completely understanding whether it’s the best decision for their situation.
But I still don’t get the abject hate for this program? Why this program and not the $8000 tax credit for first-time home buyers?
wxchick: The point is not that every clunker targeted by this program is owned by a near-destitute person. The point is that many of these are fine, serviceable cars with much life remaining, and the haves are taking them off the road and destroying them without considering the effect on the used-car market for the have-nots.
I found this a fascinating parallel with the (post-industrial) haves of the world attempting to dictate emissions, pollution, whatever standards to the (emerging industrial) soon-to-be haves. Read another good post today, this one at Planet Gore.
“And what if this program gives a person…”: Well, great. I want the government to pay for a new kitchen. After all, I’m a person who desperately wants more reliable appliances.
(We are clearly worlds apart on the wisdom of the U.S. Treasury just handing out money.)