Cash For Clunkers, Sodium Silicate For Mechanics

Nothing like destroying lower-cost automobiles in an economic downturn. That's precisely what Cash for Clunkers does and mechanics aren't thrilled. They're losing work. No point in re-purposing them for low income people on public assistance who could use them to get to a job. At the rate Obama is going, there won't be any jobs in four years.

DALLAS, TEXAS - Sodium silicate. Pour 2 quarts in a car's engine. Hold it at 2000 rpm's. And in about 5 minutes, car dealership Service Director, Mike Zorn, says, it's "lethal injection to a motor vehicle."

And now New York Dealers are pulling out of the program because they aren't being paid in time for it to make sense. Maybe they should save the sodium silicate for the public health care option? That would certainly reduce some costs. What an un-funny calamity this administration is turning out to be.

NEW YORK (AP) - Hundreds of auto dealers in the New York area have withdrawn from the government's Cash for Clunkers program, citing delays in getting reimbursed by the government, a dealership group said Wednesday.

The Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association, which represents dealerships in the New York metro area, said about half its 425 members have left the program because they cannot afford to offer more rebates. They're also worried about getting repaid.

Comments

[Troll Hunter]

Medicare - Broke!
Medicaid - Broke!
Social Security - Broke!
Freddie-Mae Mac-Fannie - Broke-Broke!
U.S. Post Office - Broke!
Cash for Clunkers - Broke!
Federal Health Care - B-b-b-b-but think of the fierce! moral! urgency!!

[anginak]

Seriously, whatever 'stimulus' this cash for clunkers program has/will have done for car dealerships is such a crock. What happens when the money runs out? All the employees hired to do the clunker deals will have to be laid off again... and now during 'boom' time, they have to worry about being paid *stimulated* in the first place?

TG, I didn't vote for the man....

[MarkJ]

Fearless Prediction: the Top Five Democrat Bumperstickers in 2010....

5. OBAMA GAVE ME 'CHANGE': NOW I'M BROKE AND UNEMPLOYED
4. OBAMA WHO?
3. PAY NO ATTENTION TO MY OBAMA STICKER: I HAVEN'T HAD TIME TO SCRAPE IT OFF YET
2. PALIN/JINDAL 2012

and Numero Uno is.....

1. COME BACK DUBYA: ALL IS FORGIVEN!

[Garry FMG]

Interestingly, Ford calls this destruction of wealth "recycling."

http://www.cashforclunkers.ford.com/

[Evil Red Scandi]

As PJ O'Rourke once wrote, the only law in Washington that's never broken is the law of unintended consequences.

[Old Trooper]

Tax Dollars pounded down a Rat Hole. Shameful!

[AllenS]

We were told that the program was such a great success that the original allotment of money had run out. Now we're being told that the dealerships aren't getting any money reimbursed. What happened to the original money? It must have went somewhere, but where?

[WAHOO WILLIE]

So the dealers aren't being paid, can't even get some of their money back selling used cars and soon the lenders will be repossessing loads o' cars because they aren't being paid either.......but UAW is bringing guys back to work (for a while)

[Cars4Charities]

I agree with your views. You left out c4c's negative impact on used car dealers, auto parts stores and car donation charities.

[WAHOO WILLIE]

Yeah, I missed used parts dealers too

[Firehand]

From what I heard today, they 'didn't have the people to do the paperwork for the dealers to be paid' yet, but are promising to have it caught up soon. Yeah.

They're using some 'volunteers' from the FAA facility here in Oklahoma City, who're being paid overtime for their work; for one supervisor that means about $90/hour while he's doing this paperwork.

Which still means lots of usable cars and parts destroyed. Isn't government wonderful?

[bud]

When I heard about the program, and the "minor detail" that it requires the destruction of the turned-in vehicle, regardless of condition, I said, "Did none of these people ever hear of Frederic Bastiat and the broken-window fallacy?"

There is no economic stimulus here, just a transfer of money from the pockets of the taxpayers to some, much smaller, portion of the public, and, in sum, an economic loss.