It would have been cheaper to give them away free.
(Carhenge)
Snapped Shot has more on this lemon.
CSM reported the news today.
American taxpayers paid a lot of cash for those clunkers: $24,000 for each new car sold, according to a study released Wednesday.
That’s a lot of money, especially when the so-called “cash for clunker” stimulus program offered only a maximum $4,500 in cash for each person who traded in an old gas-guzzler and bought a new car.
The government could have done almost as well by just giving away cars for free, instead of creating an elaborate incentive program, according to an analysis by the automotive information firm Edmunds.com in Santa Monica, Calif.
Hey!… Let’s give them health care.
October 28th, 2009 | 10:38 pm | #1
Our federal government…total failure on all accounts. Hey, here’s a good idea…let’s elect even more liberal asshats to Congress.
October 28th, 2009 | 10:47 pm | #2
“Our federal government…total failure on all accounts.”
Everything any government touches turns to ash. Education systems, nationalized companies, entitlement programs, even the military when the government tells the generals how to fight the war, it all is destroyed (remember Vietnam?). There is no incentive to cut costs, to provide the best product or service for the lowest price, to achieve victory, to compete against anything. Nor is there the threat of lawsuits when things fail in order to serve as a deterrent.
With regard to CFC, it caused a lot of other unintended consistences. The abrupt removal of so many older cars from the roads lead to many mechanics going bankrupt. In communities where this program really took off, older cars virtually vanished–and as a result there weren’t any orders to fix this or replace that. Now with mechanics out of business, things look grim in the future, when these new cars start to break down….who will fix them?
If there is a chance something will go wrong when the government gets involved, you can bet it will go wrong.
October 28th, 2009 | 10:51 pm | #3
What a disaster that idea was, and to think they disabled all those perfectly fine cars….
People running this country are delusional…
October 28th, 2009 | 10:59 pm | #4
I’m willing to listen to anyone who can cite one example of a successful federal government program. I’m 52, and I remember the fight over some of the “Great Society” programs in the ’60’s. Conservatives said then that these programs would eventually bankrupt us, and guess what ? They have. So, we haven’t learned anything in a half a century. Nothing.
October 28th, 2009 | 11:05 pm | #5
Their plan was to make up the per unit loss with volume.
October 28th, 2009 | 11:10 pm | #6
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Infidel007, Garrett Snider. Garrett Snider said: Final cost oncash forclunkers: http://bit.ly/4oWW0N #tcot [...]
October 28th, 2009 | 11:13 pm | #7
>>Their plan was to make up the per unit loss with volume.
Yup – so you lose $100 on one transaction – so how much do you lose on 50 transactions?
Now use their figures – Volume loses LOL
October 28th, 2009 | 11:22 pm | #8
Tiny Norway’s national health care is collapsing under the demands of only 4.6 million people.
That’s not even half of the greater New York City Metro area.
WHy are there so many private health insurers out there? Because there are over 300 million Americans making it TOOO BIG for ONE insurer to manage.
Bureaucracy! How many bureaucrats will it take just to process the sign-up forms? And how many YEARS? So, they put it on master super computer programmed to say “NO” and THEN see how CARING the government can be.
October 28th, 2009 | 11:26 pm | #9
ANd, uh. MAX $4,500 per car, many LESS than that
So, where’s the money? $24,000 – $4,500 = $19,500.
That’s a lot of overhead … or moola that went elsewhere.
October 29th, 2009 | 12:01 am | #10
[...] Gateway Pundit Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Auto Sales Collapse to Levels Not Seen for Almost Thirty YearsAsian Carmakers Doing Especially Well Under Cash for Clunkers – Political…USAT’s Clunker Payment Piece Fails to Note Original 10-Day Govt. Promise …Cash for Clunkers: Hug a Tree, Slap the Poor Comments (0) Trackbacks (0) Leave a comment Trackback [...]
October 29th, 2009 | 12:11 am | #11
Wanumba. UAW. Opie and his hacks don’t care what it costs. They win.
October 29th, 2009 | 12:48 am | #12
Yep.
Short term “win” long term loss.
October 29th, 2009 | 1:23 am | #13
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Vote-NC, Paul Alyunov. Paul Alyunov said: Massive Fail– Cash for Clunkers Cost Taxpayers $24K Per Car: It would have been cheaper to give them away.. http://bit.ly/iijWp [...]
October 29th, 2009 | 1:46 am | #14
[...] When the government can actually follow the money, it’s usually not a pretty sight. [...]
October 29th, 2009 | 3:05 am | #15
As I said when they went from 54 people hired to do the paperwork to 111 more at beginning of program, its going to cost a lot more than they told congress to get it to pass.Then they lied to congress again and passed another 2 billion to extend it. Then the dealers didnt get paid on time or even close.So they hired, get this one, 3000 MORE people to do the paperwork.Todays gov’t , and the hiring of unqualified people ( look at the community clown at the top),, all under his “diverse America’ b/s, gets you 6 times the promised budget. Thus a 4000 rebate/ credit scam, which was just wealth redistrubution again, becomes a 24000 dollar theft from the taxpayers.And heres my take on the scam proving my theory; When these cars get repoed because of non-payment from under-qualified and “diverse, under-priviledged background folks, the cost will be unbelievable. Just watch folks. Just like the “everyone deserves a house” scam that wrecked our economy and banks, period. It’s all a scam.
October 29th, 2009 | 4:22 am | #16
Liberals hate America. Just watch the things they do.
October 29th, 2009 | 4:24 am | #17
0bama:
What is the problem with scamming the taxpayer or $24,000 per clunker? My brilliant cronycrats don’t come cheap!
Just think of my administration as a bloated crony infested business with huge over-head. We don’t actually produce anything. We just tell you what to do, add a lot of red tape and pass the administrative costs on to you. It’s a simple but effective scam. Just think what I’ll do with obamacare!
Now, on important military matters I just dither. When, I cannot dither any longer I just from a 301 person analysis committee. The result is more dithering and eventual paralysis by analysis – and more dead Peace Keepers.
My limousine is running and I must look busy. The public becomes irritated by excessive dithering and naval gazing. That’s where the limo comes in. I have an appointment with my hair stylist. I am starting to get gray and ugly. that will change – I hope. I must go. Good day.
October 29th, 2009 | 4:55 am | #18
[...] Massive Fail– Cash for Clunkers Cost Taxpayers $24K Per Car [...]
October 29th, 2009 | 6:16 am | #19
OT watching a fairly frequent ad for “feed america” with obama’s speech [2/09] in elkhart
indiana – former home of recreational vehicles.
the death of an industry that was the life blood.
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/special-preview-br–the-economic-contradictions-of-obama-ism-15098
October 29th, 2009 | 8:17 am | #20
I’m willing to listen to anyone who can cite one example of a successful federal government program.
Social Security, the interstate highway system, the FDIC, TARP, the military, the National Parks Service, just to name a few off the top of my head.
ANd, uh. MAX $4,500 per car, many LESS than that
So, where’s the money? $24,000 – $4,500 = $19,500.
That’s a lot of overhead … or moola that went elsewhere.
Read the article — it has nothing to do with overhead. It’s just fake accounting by the firm that conducted the “study.”
They decided that even though the government paid $4,500 per car, most of those would have been purchased anyway. So they took the total amount spent under the program, divided it by the incremental number of cars they think were purchased instead of the total number subsidized, and that’s how they got their answer.
It makes little sense without a lot more information about how they came to their conclusion for number of incremental cars sold.
October 29th, 2009 | 8:29 am | #21
OMG. DNC will be closing shop pretty soon. The wrath of voters will be upon them. You cannot bribe all your constituents with freebies all the time. Soon you will run out of rich people to feed your fantasy. It is a losing tricks.
October 29th, 2009 | 8:30 am | #22
Not to mention, if they had just given away the incremental cars for free, they wouldn’t have realized the fuel efficiency benefits derived from the program. And just imagine the howls from the right if they had actually given away cars for free.
October 29th, 2009 | 8:38 am | #23
[...] Debt, Dishonesty, Government, Lies, Obama, Spending, Stimulus, The Economy, Waste trackback Wasting it. All over the place. Oh, and that stimulus that generated, by the White House’s own math, pathetically low [...]
October 29th, 2009 | 10:09 am | #24
Social Security=BANKRUPT
the interstate highway system=set the country back financially for a long time. FDR prolonged the great recession, moron.
the FDIC=OUT OF MONEY, just had to borrow an additional 80 billion and can’t stay solvent.
TARP=JOBLESS “recovery” that tripled the deficit.
I am going to assume here that you are a Bush supporter because he is the one who started TARP. Obongo simply voted for it. Now claims it is a mess that he has to clean up.
the military=is a dictatorship, comparing the military, which actually has a role and does it well, to welfare just shows what an abject moron you are.
The National Parks Service=ridiculously bloated Federal beaurocracy that has never once had a balanced budget. Every year, thier budget is increased.
Not to mention that their entire job consists of keeping track of vast parcells of uninhabited land. Pretty rough job eh?
“Just to name a few off the top of my head.”
I like how you failed to mention:
Medicair=BANKRUPT
Medicaid=BANKRUPT
VA=BANKRUPT
National budget=BANKRUPT (and still printing money)
War on poverty=NO IMPACT on poverty in 40 yrs.
October 29th, 2009 | 10:22 am | #25
Guess Who
October 29th, 2009 | 8:17 am | #20
Don’t your lips ever get sore from all that obama butt-kissing?
Is there anything that the leftists will do that you won’t rationalize? I don’t think so.
October 29th, 2009 | 10:51 am | #26
[...] recommends you do daily–I usually remind them about the failure of Cash for Clunkers. Gateway Pundit links to a new study done by Edmunds.com reported in The Christian Science Monitor (my [...]
October 29th, 2009 | 11:08 am | #27
“Social Security, the interstate highway system, the FDIC, TARP, the military, the National Parks Service, just to name a few off the top of my head.”
SS-legalized theft and bankrupt. I can make a case that my family is owed millions in money taken from SS which was never returned. My father, a small business owner for 32 years, had the most taken from him in the ‘employer responsibility’ taxes for SS. It’s failure, a ponzi scheme, corrupt and unsustainable.
interstate highway system–is overclouded (think LA rush-hour for the worse case) among other things. When it is repaired, it takes forever due to a lack of disciple. Furthermore, most of it is dangerously old.
FDIC–Look at what happened to FSLIC, I rest my case.
TARP–only half the money allotted to the program was actually used, showing the pathetic planning involved. Of the money which was used, some banks were forced to take it even though they said they could recover without it. As for ‘freeing up the credit market’ it didn’t do it’s job then, it didn’t do anything but increase the debt. Another instance of the government forcing its control on others.
the military–Only when the government is not involved in decision making. When the government doesn’t let the generals be generals, it collapses. Look no further than Vietnam for that. The reason why it was a quagmire is because the government refused to allow offensives (think of how Korea was fought) and the appropriate capture and treatment of POWs (many of whom were ‘ignored’ and let able to go about their buisness), just to name the most obvious failures.
National Parks Service–has been in a severe shortage of employees to the point where some parks don’t even hire someone to take int the fees for entering. Maintenance has been cut time and time again, the system is imploding.
“War on poverty=NO IMPACT on poverty in 40 yrs.”
But an impact on debt and taxes.
October 29th, 2009 | 11:26 am | #28
Social Security=BANKRUPT
False. Social Security is actually sitting on a $2.5 trillion trust fund and still running at a surplus.
the interstate highway system=set the country back financially for a long time. FDR prolonged the great recession, moron.
The interstate highway system was created by Eisenhower. Please learn your facts before you call other people morons.
TARP=JOBLESS “recovery” that tripled the deficit.
TARP saved the world’s financial system and prevented the recession from becoming a depression. It is the reason your bank is still in business. While it gets a lot of unwarranted criticism from both sides, I think it is without question a success at this point.
I am going to assume here that you are a Bush supporter because he is the one who started TARP. Obongo simply voted for it. Now claims it is a mess that he has to clean up.
I am not a Bush supporter, but I have made numerous posts on this site praising Bush and Paulson for TARP. Unlike most people here, I am capable of recognizing accomplishments by people even if they’re members of the other party.
the military=is a dictatorship, comparing the military, which actually has a role and does it well, to welfare just shows what an abject moron you are.
I didn’t compare the military to welfare, I said it was a well-run federal government program. Like I said, get your facts straight before you go around calling other people morons.
The National Parks Service=ridiculously bloated Federal beaurocracy that has never once had a balanced budget. Every year, thier budget is increased. Not to mention that their entire job consists of keeping track of vast parcells of uninhabited land. Pretty rough job eh?
No, that is not their entire job, and they do their jobs quite well. If Republicans want to run against Social Security, national parks, social security, and the military in 2010, I strongly encourage them to do it.
Medicair=BANKRUPT
Medicaid=BANKRUPT
VA=BANKRUPT
National budget=BANKRUPT (and still printing money)
You apparently do not understand what the word “bankrupt” means, but in any case I never said every government program was perfect. I merely named a few, off the top of my head, that have been successful.
War on poverty=NO IMPACT on poverty in 40 yrs.
The poverty rate went from 19% to 12.1% in the 5 years after the War on Poverty was introduced.
October 29th, 2009 | 11:40 am | #29
SS…It’s failure, a ponzi scheme, corrupt and unsustainable.
Like I said, run against it then.
interstate highway system–is overclouded (think LA rush-hour for the worse case) among other things.
Yup, it’s such a failure that everyone uses it.
FDIC–Look at what happened to FSLIC, I rest my case.
And what case is that? That there hasn’t been a real bank run in 70 years? Sounds like a success to me.
TARP–only half the money allotted to the program was actually used, showing the pathetic planning involved.
Yes, the program was so successful that a large portion of it did not need to be used.
Of the money which was used, some banks were forced to take it even though they said they could recover without it.
Yes, and they paid it back once confidence was restored to the system. Sounds like a success to me.
As for ‘freeing up the credit market’ it didn’t do it’s job then, it didn’t do anything but increase the debt.
Actually, credit spreads have come way down.
the military–Only when the government is not involved in decision making. When the government doesn’t let the generals be generals, it collapses.
Who do you think the generals work for?
November 11th, 2009 | 10:35 am | #30
[...] renove (Massive Fail– Cash for Clunkers Cost Taxpayers $24K Per Car): American taxpayers paid a lot of cash for those clunkers: $24,000 for each new car sold, [...]
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