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Anonymous
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Cash for clunkers will end prematurly. The allocated money is gone.
The amount of clunkers turned in for surpassed the amount of money set aside for it.hypocritexposer said:where did it go, was it spent on the program or on beer?
hurleyjd said:The amount of clunkers turned in for surpassed the amount of money set aside for it.hypocritexposer said:where did it go, was it spent on the program or on beer?
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government plans to suspend its popular "cash for clunkers" program amid concerns it could quickly use up the $1 billion in rebates for new car purchases, congressional officials said Thursday.
The Transportation Department called lawmakers' offices to alert them to the decision to suspend the program at midnight Thursday. The program offers owners of old cars and trucks $3,500 or $4,500 toward a new, more fuel-efficient vehicle.
The congressional officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
A White House official said later that officials were assessing the situation facing the popular program but auto dealers and consumers should have confidence that transactions under the program that already have taken place would be honored.
Rae Tyson, a spokesman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which administers the program, declined comment.
Congress last month approved the Car Allowance Rebate System program, known as CARS, to boost auto sales and remove some inefficient cars and trucks from the roads. The program kicked off last Friday and was heavily publicized by car companies and auto dealers.
Through late Wednesday, 22,782 vehicles had been purchased through the program and nearly $96 million had been spent. But dealers raised concerns about large backlogs in the processing of the deals in the government system, prompting the suspension.
A survey of 2,000 dealers by the National Automobile Dealers Association found about 25,000 deals had not yet been approved by NHTSA, or nearly 13 trades per store. It raised concerns that with about 23,000 dealers taking part in the program, auto dealers may already have surpassed the 250,000 vehicle sales funded by the $1 billion program.
"There's a significant backlog of 'cash for clunkers' deals that make us question how much funding is still available in the program," said Bailey Wood, a spokesman for the dealers association.
The clunkers program was set up to boost U.S. auto sales and help struggling automakers through the worst sales slump in more than a quarter-century. Sales for the first half of the year were down 35 percent from the same period in 2008, and analysts are predicting only a modest recovery during the second half of the year.
So far this year, sales are running under an annual rate of 10 million light vehicles, but as recently as 2007, automakers sold more than 16 million cars and light trucks in the United States.
Even before the suspension, some in Congress were seeking more money for the auto sales stimulus. Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., wrote in a letter to House leaders on Wednesday requesting additional funding for the program.
"This is simply the most stimulative $1 billion the federal government has spent during the entire economic downturn," Miller said Thursday. "The federal government must come up with more money, immediately, to keep this program going."
Brendan Daly, a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said they would work with "the congressional sponsors and the administration to quickly review the results of the initiative."
General Motors Co. spokesman Greg Martin said Thursday the automaker hopes "there's a will and way to keep the CARS program going a little bit longer."
reader (the Second) said:what did you think of this comment? Was it self-serving because the person is a congressperson from Michigan or was it the truth?
Even before the suspension, some in Congress were seeking more money for the auto sales stimulus. Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., wrote in a letter to House leaders on Wednesday requesting additional funding for the program.
"This is simply the most stimulative $1 billion the federal government has spent during the entire economic downturn," Miller said Thursday. "The federal government must come up with more money, immediately, to keep this program going."
Faster horses said:Hey, this program was NOT FAIR.
I've been discriminated against. The government needs to give
me a clunker car to trade in cuz I don't have one. I'm ENTITLED,
you know. Obama needs to spread these cars around...
1 hr 58 mins ago
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US House of Representatives voted Friday to pump another two billion dollars into a program that lets consumers trade in gas-guzzling cars and trucks for more efficient vehicles.
hurleyjd said:Cash for clunkers will end prematurly. The allocated money is gone.
reader (the Second) said:aplusmnt said:I wonder how many Toyota Camry and Nissan Altimas were bought with our tax dollars?
Seen Toyota and Nissan advertising some pretty good deals in the local paper.
Can you answer how many American workers kept their jobs making Nissan and Toyota cars in the US because of cash for clunkers? Or how much tax will be paid because the cars are made, distributed and sold in the U.S. How many dealerships stayed afloat employing American workers?
Toyota I know has been mostly made in the US for a decade.
reader (the Second) said:GM employs 142,000+ people in the United States.
Toyota employs 36,632 people in the United States.
On Friday, the House passed an additional $2 billion in aid for the Consumer Assistance to Recycle & Save Program by a vote to 316 to 109. The bill (H.R. 3435), known as "cash for clunkers," will shift funding from an energy loan program that was included in the economic stimulus plan passed earlier this year. The Senate plans to take up the legislation early next week.