Where was Cash for Clunkers when I had a Plymouth Horizon?

July 30th, 2009 at 08:04pm Jennie Pollock

OK, I jest, but Friday’s Register Star Wheels section highlights the federal government’s ”Cash for Clunkers” program, aka CARS (Car Allowance Rebate System).

The goal in spending $1 billion of your tax dollars is to boost auto sales and “clean up” the roadways by getting Americans to buy more energy-efficient vehicles. Apparently, it’s working! See below.

To qualify, your set of wheels must be model year 1984 or newer and still operable, among other things, like you must improve your mpg by certain levels with your new car. The $3,500 to $4,500 credits were supposed to be available until November, but the government is supposedly suspending the program due to high demand in just one week.

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. …

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.”

Entry Filed under: Green business, Green campaigns