Cash for Clunkers?

Everyone is talking about the cash for clunkers program. Liberals claim it is a great way to stimulate the economy. Conservatives question how you can trust the Federal government to rein in heathcare cost estimates if the $1 billon they had put aside that was supposed to cover this program from July-November ran out in one week. I have some other questions...

1) Why pick new cars? There are lots of other industries out there. Dems say because there are a lot of other businesses that are affected by new car sales. OK, then what about the travel industry? You have airlines, hotels, cruise ships, car rentals, taxis, restaurants, resorts, attractions, the list goes on and on. Maybe it's because the government owns car companies but doesn't own any travel companies or hotels.

2) Who are you helping? Are liberals the ones who want to help the poorest people? Are the poorest people going out and buying new cars? No, it's the middle and upper middle class who are buying these cars. In a lot of cases it's people who were already planning on buying a new car soon, so it's not so much an incentive to trade in a clunker, but more of a windfall for something they were going to do anyways.

3) Who are you hurting? Not only is cash for clunkers not helping the poor, it is potentially hurting them. By law, the cars turned in must be destroyed wholesale. Nothing can be removed from them. What that means is not only are there fewer used cars available for people who can only afford to buy used cars, and driving up the prices of the used cars that are available, but there are also going to be fewer parts for cars that people already own, driving those prices up as well. Why not just require the engine be destroyed? How much pollution does a transmission emit? Zero. Doors? Nada. Rims? Zilch. Airbags? Zip. Are you seeing the pattern?

4) Who else are you hurting? Used car companies, used parts companies, repair shops (more expensive parts may lead to less business for them), and new car dealers. How are the new car dealers being hurt when they are getting all this business you ask? Well, for one thing they cannot resell the car, but for another, as mentioned below, a great number of these people turning in their cars are simply accelerating a purchase they were going to make anyways, so each sale now comes out of a company's future sales. Also, its possible that when the program ends, people may hold off buying new cars hoping that Congress might start up a similar program again.

5) Are they really clunkers? People working for companies who shred cars have reported that they are seeing cars that are not clunkers at all. In one case, they got a car that had less than 30,000 miles on it. Of course under the law they have no choice and that car had to be destroyed along with all the others. And the rules exclude cars older than 25 years. Why? Aren't those worse polluters than cars that are 10 years old?

And finally, Mr. Obama and you Dems jamming things like this through the two houses, why do I now have to pay for other people's cars? I don't mind paying taxes for things I use, roads, schools, fire and police departments, but I really resent paying for private property for other people. Let's call it quits at $1 billion wasted on this program and not send another $2 billon down the new car toilet.