Against: Fascism, Trump, Putin, Q, libertarianism, postmodernism, woke-ism and Identity politics. For: Democracy, equalism, art, science, Enlightenment values and common-sense liberalism.
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Clunker
Why wasn't the "cash for clunkers" program designed to encourage buying domestic? And did you know that the extended program came at the expense of renewable energy?
4 comments:
MrMike
said...
Ethanol=boondoggle. No sadness there but solar energy development or wind turbines are a different matter.
Cash for Clunkers is just another government bailout program that rewards bad behavior and dumb decisions and those who make them - the car companies that made the gas guzzlers and the people who bought them.
The people that bought gas guzzlers over the past 10 years and, thus, poluted the air, consumed non-renewable resources (foreign oil), and drove up our debt to foreign countries (from whom we buy that oil) are now rewarded with $3500 or $4500 rebates to buy a new car.
I have been driving a Subaru that gets 29 miles per gallon for the last 13 years, so my only options to qualify for this program are the Prius or Honda Insight. By comparison, someone driving an SUV for the last 10 years that gets 12 miles to the gallon can choose from a variety of models that get 22 MPG or greater, qualify for the full $4500 rebate, and still be polluting more than I am with my Subaru.
I can understand why this program is so popular, but is it really good policy?
There are a LOT of problems with Cash for Clunkers. A big opponent right now is the association that represents rebuilders and remanufacturers, who correctly point out that it will deprive poor people of the ability to purchase decent but old cars, and that scrapping perfectly driveable cars and producing new ones is environmental insanity.
Methinks it is far, far too similar to ObamaCare: Sounds good, feels good, but leaves you hungrier than before you ate it.
There's a lively debate on it at Motor Trend forum:
Also, what Random Weirdness said. Absolutely right, and in fact what dealers are reporting is people bringing in cars that are only a few years old and trading them in for brand-new "green" ones.
My mother keeps begging me to do the C4C because she thinks that my driving a 12-year-old car means Instant Highway Death, but as I told her, my "clunker" gets 30 miles to the gallon and runs great, and it has the supremely wonderful benefit of being paid for. When it gets undriveable I'll either donate it or give it to one of my friends who does demolition derbies.
4 comments:
Ethanol=boondoggle. No sadness there but solar energy development or wind turbines are a different matter.
Cash for Clunkers is just another government bailout program that rewards bad behavior and dumb decisions and those who make them - the car companies that made the gas guzzlers and the people who bought them.
The people that bought gas guzzlers over the past 10 years and, thus, poluted the air, consumed non-renewable resources (foreign oil), and drove up our debt to foreign countries (from whom we buy that oil) are now rewarded with $3500 or $4500 rebates to buy a new car.
I have been driving a Subaru that gets 29 miles per gallon for the last 13 years, so my only options to qualify for this program are the Prius or Honda Insight. By comparison, someone driving an SUV for the last 10 years that gets 12 miles to the gallon can choose from a variety of models that get 22 MPG or greater, qualify for the full $4500 rebate, and still be polluting more than I am with my Subaru.
I can understand why this program is so popular, but is it really good policy?
There are a LOT of problems with Cash for Clunkers. A big opponent right now is the association that represents rebuilders and remanufacturers, who correctly point out that it will deprive poor people of the ability to purchase decent but old cars, and that scrapping perfectly driveable cars and producing new ones is environmental insanity.
Methinks it is far, far too similar to ObamaCare: Sounds good, feels good, but leaves you hungrier than before you ate it.
There's a lively debate on it at Motor Trend forum:
http://forums.motortrend.com/70/7775706/the-general-forum/why-cash-for-clunkers-is-bad/page2.html
Also, what Random Weirdness said. Absolutely right, and in fact what dealers are reporting is people bringing in cars that are only a few years old and trading them in for brand-new "green" ones.
My mother keeps begging me to do the C4C because she thinks that my driving a 12-year-old car means Instant Highway Death, but as I told her, my "clunker" gets 30 miles to the gallon and runs great, and it has the supremely wonderful benefit of being paid for. When it gets undriveable I'll either donate it or give it to one of my friends who does demolition derbies.
Post a Comment