Was Cash 4 Clunkers the Ultimate Rebill?
Everyone knows what Cash 4 Clunkers was. Essentially you could trade in your old/low miles per gallon vehicle to get up to $4,500 towards a new more fuel efficient vehicle. The governments reasoning was that they would get gas guzzlers off the road and basically provide a “bailout” for the auto industry. Those are some pretty righteous reasons to offer this program BUT was this the ultimate REBILL?
Any reasonable person would realize that the vast majority of cars traded in were vehicles like older pickup trucks & SUVs. Although it’s not true in every case, many of the people trading in their vehicles probably had the older vehicles due to lack of funds to buy a new one. After all, the average person doesn’t just run out and buy a car because someone is offering them up to $4,500 off. There is still another $15,000+ that you are going to have to pay for. I feel like the $4,500 was the bait to get people to sign up for the rebill. What’s the rebill you ask? Well, most of these people are now signed into 36+ months of $149-$499 monthly payments to have the privilege of getting $4,500 of Uncle Sams money. The car dealers and auto manufacturers got to see a short term boost in sales after an absolutely horrible year, Obama get’s to brag how he got gas guzzlers off the road, banks get to make a percentage on loaned money and the consumer is happy right?
Well the consumer is happy for now. But can they really afford their monthly payment over the next few years or were they better off with the already paid for “clunker”? Did the government’s $4,500 bribe to buy a car actually hurt these people to help their own image? Will their be a financial crisis like we saw in housing because people bought cars they can’t afford? Only time will tell but leave it to the government to do something that would really screw consumers in the end.
Obama: 1. American Tax Payer: 0 + a new car.
It’s ok, in 2011 when 40% of these leases/loans come in 180 days late and the banks are again in front of congress with their dicks between their legs and asking for $$$, Obama will once again come through with a blank check.
Wish Obama knew about adwords. Wouldn’t it be nice to run up a $200K bill with Google and hit Congress up for the funds to pay it?
Amen brother. It’s like hey “I’ll give you $4500 for that piece of junk but you can pay me $15,000 for taking it off your hands”. I kind of wonder if the this is one of those times where the government is saying “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.”
And the 4500.00 is taxable income, furthermore the dealers get most of the 4500.00 not the sheeple. It was a massive scam to direct taxpayer money to the dying dealers and volume starved automakers without the sheeple complaining.
The best part is the sheeple get to pay taxes on money they really never got.
Makes Acai rebills look pristine
you go niggah
Trading in a paid-off car for a monthly bill of $399 could have been the worst financial decision for many buyers.
Smart strategy, which appears to benefit everyone concerned in the picture. But consumer anyway would be the paying & suffering member according to me.
the taxpayer really got the shit end of the stick here.
wealth redistribution is a BAD thing. The government should stay the fuck out of private business.
i’m going to DC on 9/12 for the tea party this country is going to hell very fast.
Where were these tea parties when Bush was shattering all spending records?
Where were the protests when this year Obama asked for $90 billion more, to go along with the already huge military budget.
$3 billion for cash for clunkers upsets people?
Obama could spend $900 billion to blow up and rebuild car factories and hospitals overseas and many of these tea party people wouldn’t care. But oh no, try and spend a few billion to actually help people in the USA and now we’re going to hell.
Yeah, Ron Paul and some others have stood up against outrageous war spending, but most of these tea party people are just angry that a Democrat is in office.
Bush was a big spender, but nothing compared to what Obama has done to this country. It is not even in the same ball park.
Bush spending was out of control, but Obama spending is destroying the country.
Dismiss protesters if you want – you sound just like MSNBC and other liberal media outlets. Tea party protesters include democrats, republicans and independents.
Did MSNBC promote Bush protests?
http://mediamatters.org/reports/200904080025
The first big bailout was from Bush. He would have had more in 2009 if he was still President. McCain supported the first bailout, while the tea party people sat at home and complained about Nancy Pelosi’s hairdo.
For lots of Obama’s plans, the Republicans have proposed alternatives that were still many billions of dollars. President McCain would be throwing around mega dollars to help the economy.
If political parties and special interests didn’t exist, maybe a bunch of top economists would be brought together and come up with some type of compromise. Instead it turns into “my team vs. the bad guys” ANGER FEST.
I am just hoping that the consumer is happy not just for now. I am sure they wanted to be having a better standing.
If the monthly payment is too high, then how could they afford it.
Very good way to look at it from an Affiliate point of view.