Comments about ‘Dealer says 'cash for clunkers' will hurt people who need most help’

Wow, as much as I disliked this program before, I never saw this aspect. Article well done. Anyone in Washington listening, or care? Or are they just happy to be buying more votes with taxpayer money?

The companies that demolish and recycle the clunkers are happy.

Several parts are recycled such as catalytic converters and tires. The remaining metal is crushed, shredded, and sold. The companies and their workers that do all this are getting a boost with this program.

Every time you buy stock, someone gains, someone loses. This is the nature of the beast.

Of course you can find a problem or issue with anything.

That is what is wrong with the world. We live in a society (world) of sound-bite journalism where everything is analyzed to death in search of an emotional angle, anger to sensationalize, a conflict to highlight, etc.

The problem is obvious. The media looks for issues and magnifies each one, giving rise to increased social tension.

The cycle is endless.

Used car dealer complaining that supplies decrease, prices go up? so he makes more money? wow... that's an interesting complaint.. I almost want to question the honesty of used car dealers...

Let's see, we stimulate sales on new more efficient cars and reduce the number of gas hogs on the road. That's good for America.
Since the sales are incremental a large part of them would not have happened so the clunkers would not have gone to auction anyway so the "damage" is much less than you would think. I'm betting that the complaints are greatly based on a missed windfall rather than anything else.
As to these gas hogs being sold to those that can least afford a car, they would least able to afford the large gas bill as well.
Like the program or not let's at least be honest as to it's effects.

I read another article that listed the 10 most turned in clunkers. Its funny. most of the "clunkers" where 10-12 years old. Not really what i would call a clunker. I didnt see and 82 buick regal on there, or a 81 olds. I saw nothing about old beater making the ten list. This program is a waste, as this article showed, it only proves it helped those who didnt need help.

You are darn right. Who are benefiting from this "Clunkers" thing, if not the manufacturers, and those who, either, have enough money to pay for the price of a new car (less $4,500), or have good/excellent credit? These are not low income workers Obama came in office to help. I could not agree more with you, that Obama's administration should inform taxpayers of any spending on their behalf, listen to their opinion, before he starts giving away their money.
In effect, what's in for the taxpayers? Why not help every low income people who are struggling to reach their workplace, sometimes walking lengthly ways before catching public transportation? Why not give at least, say, $2,000 to every low income workers to help them by a used car? What percentage of taxpayers does he think he is making happy? How many is he making jealous?
I'm totally against injecting any more money for his bizarre "Clunker" plan. I wish it got rejected by the Senate.

What a horrendous waste of good used cars! Most of these vehicles are not clunkers.

Clunkers are cars that spew blue smoke and make awful rattling sounds as people drive them. Those are the cars we should first get off the roads.

Unfortunately, this program wasn't designed to help the really needy, only to help those who could qualify for a loan and buy a new car.

Destroying these vehicles is the last thing they should be doing. How many REAL clunkers could they get off the road if they instead certified the good vehicles and then gave them away to those who turned in a REAL BLUE SMOKE SPEWING CLUNKER.

Imagine the amount of CO2 and other pollutants they would be eliminating?

Nah ... that makes too much sense! Let's trash perfectly good vehicles and make the poor pay even more for the used cars they drive.

Our government is run by people who lack common sense.

Utah is a clunker state riddled with unsafe used cars on the roads. Sure, this will hurt many used car lots but many should not be in business anyway with the trashy vehicles they are selling and its too expensive to fix them.

The only problem with this program is new car dealers can designate any vehicle a clunker for the trade in spot profit of $4500. Now days many vehicles are designed and built to last beyond a 10 year life cycle.

The auction market of used cars are full of cars that have been totaled as non repairable in other states and Utah is the outlet for reselling these unrepairable clunker vehicles. The people that can't afford new cars are the ones being sold these condemned and unsafe vehicles.

One thing that would improve vehicles on Utah roads is to cancel its program of salvage titles for wrecked and condemned vehicles which has become a curse to car buyers. They are often missing the airbags that have been deployed that costs thousands to replace. Just because people are low income is no excuse to endanger their lives with vehicles they can't afford to repair.

Statesman or Salesman?

Folks, you are generally missing the Obama point of this program. Obama is a salesman, not a statesman. The reason this program is structured this way is to generate the most positive spin for the man who is constantly selling his "new deal" to the american public. He is not interested in helping the little people, but in keeping his stock high.

Translation, please:
"Like an avalanche, Cassity foresees that the clunker catastrophe will in turn cripple businesses that orbit in the used-car universe."

Obama created this program for one reason to help Obama Motors, a creative way to infuse cash at everyone's expense. The irony is 6 of 10 cars being purchaserd by those who qualify for this inane program buy Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai not Obama Motors.

Golly gee, just think about how low the price of gas is going to fall with all of these gas guzzling monsters off the road. Heck, I'll bet we'll see gas under a $1 before Christmas... Don't try to argue with people who support Obama and all of his crazy ideas, they just don't get it. I mean, do you really think the price of gas will go down at all as a result of this? I don't, but I'll bet they do.

problem is, govt should not be in the "stock" business. They're picking winners and losers instead of being a referee.

Take an economics class.

Just because the price per item goes up, doesn't mean you make more money. If that were the case, Walmart would be going bankrupt. Right now, selling a lot of stuff for a cheap price is king.

Yes there are always winners and losers, gains and losses. The problem is when government is choosing the winners and losers, the winners are losers are chosen by politics. The free market is the most efficient use of resources, government intervention distorts this and makes it less efficient.

Of all the stimulus-originated ideas, the cash for clunkers is one of the better ones.
-It gets the money on the street quickly.
-It gets people buying cars, which should help the auto industry.
-Sales of cars bring in sales tax revenues, which helps our state and local governments and schools.

Guess I don't see much of a down side.

This is just one more exhibit as to why government social-engineering programs virtually always fail - the law of unintended consequences.

Most government programs like this start out with one or two well-intentioned goals - in this case better gas mileage for the "nation's fleet" and stimulating car sales.

The problem is, no government bureaucracy can foresee all of the consequences of their dictate from on high - this is why free market solutions almost always solve the problem better than government bureaucrats pulling the levers from on high.

Congratulations, Obama. You just killed the below-$5,000 used car market . . . the one that lower-income Americans depend on to buy their cars. I know, I was there once - early in my career, all I could afford was a $3,200 car. Without it, I couldn't have worked my job. And so on . . .

How many in-your-face lessons must we learn before the left FINALLY understands that socialism - just - doesn't - work. I don't care how smart they think they are - they simply cannot run an economy, even parts of it, from on high. It's a literal impossibility.

This program makes me sick just thinking about it. Here we have a good working car that is probably paid off that is being destroyed. We are replacing it with a new car that comes with payments and a high depreciation rate. Just what people don't need.
I am so glad that I found my 1995 F-350 last month for $3500 because now I fear that I would not find one like it. I needed a good working truck that could pull very heavy loads several times a year. This truck fit the bill. Now this is the very kind of truck that they are destroying. A new truck like it makes no economic sense from the individual's or smae business' prespective

Any government program that destroys something of value is a bad idea. Like buying milk and dumping it down the drain to reduce supply and help farmers buy increasing the value of the remaining milk. This is just the sort of numbskull stuff that made the 30's recession into the great depression.