Clunk
Kurt Brouwer August 20th, 2009
Cash for Clunkers has set a new land speed record for a failed government program [emphasis added below]:
NY dealers pull out of clunkers program (Breitbart / AP, August 19, 2009, Dan Strumpf)
Hundreds of auto dealers in the New York area have withdrawn from the government’s Cash for Clunkers program, citing delays in getting reimbursed by the government, a dealership group said Wednesday.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 program offers up to $4,500 to shoppers who trade in vehicles getting 18 mpg or less for a more fuel-efficient car or truck. Dealers pay the rebates out of pocket, then must wait to be reimbursed by the government. But administrative snags and heavy paperwork have created a backlog of unpaid claims. Schienberg said the group’s dealers have been repaid for only about 2 percent of the clunkers deals they’ve made so far.
Many dealers have said they are worried they won’t get repaid at all, while others have waited so long to get reimbursed they don’t have the cash to fund any more rebates, Schienberg said…
Cash flow. It’s an exciting new concept. Apparently, the bureaucrats in DC are unfamiliar with it though. On the other hand, maybe they get it. Improving cash flow means slowing down the checks you write. Here’s another example from New Mexico:
Dealers Stiffed As Clunkers Pile Up (KRQE News, August 20, 2009, Alex Tomin)
Some New Mexico auto dealers have backed out of the cash-for-clunkers program and more may do so as the federal government takes its time providing cash reimbursements.
Dealers across the state are owed more than $3.6 million, according to a dealers’ group which says that so far Uncle Sam has only written three checks totaling about $14,000.
Cash for clunkers–officially its the Car Allowance Rebate System–allows consumers to trade their gas guzzlers for a more fuel-efficient rides while earning up to $4,500 toward the purchase price.
Dealerships put up the cash for the rebates after being told by the Obama administration they would be paid back within 10 days of the sale.
With that much cash in limbo they’ve called in reinforcements.
“You simply can’t ask businesses to front $200,000, $300,000 for any period of time,” Rep. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., told KRQE News 13. “These applications are simply not being processed fast enough.
“So we are going to be on the phone today to the White House and to the feds in DC to try and get this moving.”
Don Chalmers’ dealership received the most reimbursement so far.
“I pay my bills,” Chalmers said. “If I was three weeks or four weeks late on paying my taxes I suspect that they would be in my office real quick…
Nice line about being late on paying taxes.
The so-called Cash for Clunkers program has been an eye opener for many people because it illustrates the many problems with government programs. And, it has done this in a very short time span, so Americans have seen firsthand how it has gone off the road.
For more on this, see Collateral Damage From Cash for Clunkers.
Hat tip: Instapundit
Did you enjoy this article?
[…] Clunk Filed under: Uncategorized Tags: a-failed-government, a-little-kinder, area-have, august, […]
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Thursday that after a wildly successful run, the cash for clunkers program will come to a close on Monday, August 24th at 8 p.m. EDT.
Why can’t just those why pay taxes get health benefits…how b’out that Obama and the rest of the health care reform starters??? NO seriously, this I could be in favor of, but not just letting any old person that comes to America, even the illegal’s to get health care and our taxes go up the roof???? No, sure, I will cont. to fight this…
It’s not comparing them as if the issues are similar, but drawing a conclusion that if the government developed a program, even on a much smaller scale than healthcare, rammed it thru in no time flat and then totally mismanaged it, is valid.