My wife came home last night after work and told me of a mention she heard on the Fox News radio regarding the suspension of the Cash for Clunkers program. We had been worried about this from the first time we heard of the program last week. And now we were worried that our deal would fail. We really only considered buying a new car because of this program. Several dealers that we had gone to in our small community had already done over 30 deals and had the cars for the program stored in their back lot. They had voiced the same concern saying that the program only accounted for each dealer to sell seven cars! Some of them were already trading out the new cars and taking the old ones in hoping that they would get paid soon by the Government. That means they fronted the 35 or 45 hundred dollars and let the customer drive off in a new car. If this program were to stop, these dealers are going to be left to collect the money from their customers who only came in because they could afford the deal. They probably wouldn’t have been able to qualify otherwise or have wanted to have the increased payment from a full priced car.
But the White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs, today, reassured us that the program would continue. For how long is a guess. It would be a disaster to have the program fold or fail right now and the anger from the consumers would be far reaching to the 2012 elections. My guess is that it might continue for another week at most and then end even with the increase of funds from Congress. Maybe they could use some of that TARP money that has been returned by the banks?
So I was looking thorough the local papers on line to find out more about the current state on this and noticed a story about a car junk yard dealer and how his son had seen this program and gotten his dealership classified by the Government to handle the junk cars from the dealers in this program. From this, I could see how it would employ many people. Like the old story of the boy tossing a rock through a window, it would employ a policeman to investigate, a newspaper reporter, a photographer for the local paper, a clerk to file a report from the policeman, a window glazer to replace the glass, a carpenter to repair the damage to wooden frame, a painter to touch up after the carpenter, a rug cleaner, an insurance company, perhaps a trip to the doctor for anxiety and a new paddle after spanking the kid. Everyone wins except the kid. Bills are paid, new items bought and the local economy is restored and maintained. This is what a program like this does. Let’s hope a few more stones are thrown by the Republicans.
i like it… we have – at last count – 13 cars/trucks around here… do you think we can qualify for the funding? Annis
You qualify as a junk dealer! Go employ someone and help start up the economy in your little part of the world. Let me know how it turns out by, say, the end of the next administration.