American Politics during the Obama Presidency

[QUOTE=Sidney]Duh! Where was this program in January? One must be very suspicious of the reasons it was delayed until July. Could it be that the Obomination intentionally delayed such program in order to ''hatchet'' GM and C. Then stimulate auto sales to make his administration look good! Wake up guys, the O is an evil. Stupid man![/QUOTE]Sid, please. I love a good conspiracy theory as much as the next guy. But it's got to be a [I][b]good[/b][/i] conspiracy theory. You can do much better than this.

[QUOTE=Sidney]Duh! Where was this program in January? One must be very suspicious of the reasons it was delayed until July. Could it be that the Obomination intentionally delayed such program in order to ''hatchet'' GM and C. Then stimulate auto sales to make his administration look good! Wake up guys, the O is an evil. Stupid man![/QUOTE]No Sidney, the Conspiracy is for Mormon car dealers only.

Exon

"Inquiring minds have found some interesting quotes in the Wall Street Journal article 'Cash for Clunkers' Runs Out of Gas.

Michael J. Jackson, chief executive of AutoNation Inc. Said "It was an absolute success. There's a very compelling case the government should put more money into it. It's a great stimulus to the economy."

Actually a very compelling case can be made that the CEO of AutoNation is an economic illiterate. All the program does is shift demand forward. Those clunkers were going to die at some point. Now sales are up this year which will cut into next year's demand, at the expense of everyone not getting free money.

Why anyone should be surprised at the "success" in generating demand for free money is beyond me. There is always demand for free money. Yet, interestingly, everyone seems surprised by the "unexpected success".

If the government wants more "success", it can give everyone $4,500 for a car. Short-term demand will soar. But long-term demand for cars would crash for the next few years, taxpayers would be stuck with the bills, and valuable resources would be wasted on cars rather than productive assets.

Thus, the "absolute success" touted by AutoNation is in reality a tragedy. Handing out free money always is. Indeed, the more free money handed out, the bigger the ultimate tragedy. The housing crash is poof enough."

[QUOTE=Sidney]To be able to pass as much left wing legisilation as possible or if that is wrong.

O is just plain stupid! What fool wouldn't know that if sales incentives existed, people would buy cars and trucks. You take your choice, Stan. To me O is incredibly stupid and leads a huge conspiracy!

Bewildered Sid[/QUOTE]

RE: recent inquiry about career opportunities in the Obama Administration

Estimado Sidney.

I see limited career opportunities for you in the Obama Administration.

Don't call us, we'll call you.

Besos,

Nancy ¨Marsh Rat¨ Pelosi

[QUOTE=Sidney]The auto dealer can't cut 18% off the sticker? Gysell shouldn't cut her late night price to 150 pesos? The clothing store can't reduce prices by 30%? The Alamo and Casa Bar shouldn't reduce beer prices? Etc. Is this a new economics? Free money? I'm confused?[/QUOTE] [I]“Trying to jump-start sales as it resumes production, Chrysler Group LLC is offering rebates that could double the government's "Cash for Clunkers" vouchers given customers.”[/i]

I guess they could have cut prices themselves after all. Cutting prices due to lack of sales is one thing, but doing it at taxpayer expense is something else.

This is all just part of the global warming agenda under the guise of saving jobs, but it’s really just a way to force the American people to buy small “green” cars, (which they don’t like) I suspect the next step will be a gas tax increase of about fifty cents a gallon.

Remember America is the only country in the world that’s not allowed to drill its own oil.

[QUOTE=Punter 127]Actually a very compelling case can be made that the CEO of AutoNation is an economic illiterate. All the program does is shift demand forward. Those clunkers were going to die at some point. Now sales are up this year which will cut into next year's demand, at the expense of everyone not getting free money.

Why anyone should be surprised at the "success" in generating demand for free money is beyond me. There is always demand for free money. Yet, interestingly, everyone seems surprised by the "unexpected success".[/QUOTE]Your economic analysis is spot-on. However, if you have an old beater that qualifies under the program, take advantage of this, it's a no-brainer. I have one that's worth maybe $1K tops. As soon as I am sure that the program is going to be funded by Congress, I will be buying a new car, even though I had no previous plans to do so. However, as a political protest I will not be buying either a GM or Chrysler product, even though every car I've ever bought has been from one of those two manufacturers. Thinking I will get a Camry or Accord. Toyota and Honda also has the probability of being around three years from now, which Chrysler and GM do not.

For both the clunker and the new car?

Can I go buy a POS at the used car lot for $1k and trade it for $4.5K?

What are the limitations on the type of car I can buy (mpg, etc)

[QUOTE=Hunt99]Your economic analysis is spot-on. However, if you have an old beater that qualifies under the program, take advantage of this, it's a no-brainer. I have one that's worth maybe $1K tops. As soon as I am sure that the program is going to be funded by Congress, I will be buying a new car, even though I had no previous plans to do so. However, as a political protest I will not be buying either a GM or Chrysler product, even though every car I've ever bought has been from one of those two manufacturers. Thinking I will get a Camry or Accord. Toyota and Honda also has the probability of being around three years from now, which Chrysler and GM do not.[/QUOTE]

I understand the plan to be only for new cars, as far as where the money can be used. I'd be surprised if they allow it to be used on foreign cars, but maybe they will many foreign cars sold in the US (affordable ones anyway) are built in the US. I also understand that the clunkers have to be destroyed so that they cannot be resold and thus defeat what they are trying to do.

Totally idiotic, whatever the rules are, but I agree Hunt, take advantage of it if you can - the money's going to be used anyway and those who protest by not using the money are just going to lose out.

Mongers-

The requirements for the "clunkers for cash" program are as follows:

-The car being traded in must be a 1984 or newer model and must have had an EPA combined fuel economy rating of 18 MPG or less.

-The new car being bought will get an automatic, on the spot discount of $3500 USD. If the new car being bought has a combined 22 MPG EPA rating, the discount will be $4500.

-The dealer must "junk" the cars that are being traded in, as such they may not resell them.

Suerte,

Rock Harders

[QUOTE=El Queso]Totally idiotic, whatever the rules are, but I agree Hunt, take advantage of it if you can - the money's going to be used anyway and those who protest by not using the money are just going to lose out.[/QUOTE]It's not just those that protest, where does this program leave the [strike]poor[/strike] financially challenged and fixed income folks?

I’m talking about the people who can’t afford to buy a new car?

[I]-They’re unable to take advantage of the rebate.

-The pool of cars they can afford buy are being destroyed.

- What’s the effect of this program on the used car salesman?[/i]

The left seems to roll out the cry for “compassion” on an as “they” need to basis, where is the compassion for the [strike] poor [/strike] financially challenged and fixed income folks?

I guess they’ll just have to walk to get their free health care.

If this program was really about stimulating the economy and saving jobs we wouldn’t see the [b]MPG[/b] and [b]MUST DESTROY[/b] requirements.

This program is about the [color=green][b]“Green agenda”[/b][/color], and it says [b]screw[/b] the poor and the old!

I promise you the rebates will be taken back in tax increases, so Hunt is correct, you may as well get a piece of the pie, you’re going to pay for it anyway!

[QUOTE=Sidney]Duh! Who voted for the Obomination?[/QUOTE]This program is a sad joke (not that I won't take advantage of it if possible) It is cleary driven by the Green movement and directly punishes the poor (doesn't just exclude them)

The destruction of the clunkers eliminates the largest source of spare parts for those on a tight budget. This drives up the cost of owning an older car. Secondarily, if they can get credit, it encourages the kind of behavior that got us into this mess in the first place (I. E. Trade in the clunker, get a new car loan for more than you can afford, etc, etc)

Please don't mistake anything Obama does as 'for the poor.' He doesn't care about the poor. He is a millionaire. If he cared about the poor, he'd help out his half brother and his aunt (both living in poverty) Don't judge a man by his words alone, his actions speak volumes.