CASH MONEY: Cash for Clunkers needs some change
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If you're tired of spending $60 every couple of days to fill up your P.O.S. 1991 Suburban, you might be getting good news soon. And by “good news,” I mean $4,500.
The Cash for Clunkers legislation that passed the U.S. House of Representatives this week promises $4,500 vouchers for people who trade in older, gas-guzzling vehicles on new ones.
The thinking is that the bill would take busted-up, polluting hoopties off the road while helping jump-start the faltering auto industry. Under the program, car buyers would take their old vehicles into dealerships to be scrapped and receive a $4,500 voucher for a down payment on a new one. The swap could boost auto sales by 625,000 vehicles, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
To qualify, the old car must get 18 miles per gallon or less, city/highway combined, and the new vehicle must get at least 22 miles per gallon, city/highway combined. Of course, the clunker needs to be in drivable shape and continuously insured for the past year. As with many of these things, the devil is in the details. In this case, Beelzebub seems to be chilling out somewhere between the part in the bill that talks about the gas mileage and the one that says what kind of car you've got to buy.
First, the gas mileage.
Environmental groups point out that 22 mpg isn't exactly great fuel economy. In fact, it's only 4 mpg better than the cars participants would be scrapping. Considering hybrids such as the Toyota Prius can get around 45 mpg, city/highway combined, it looks like Congress may be more interested in helping out automakers than the environment.
That aside, there's another problem: You can only use the voucher on a brand-new ride. We're still in recession, and some critics wonder just how many folks driving sputtering, black smoke-spewing shitboxes have the funds to replace them with shiny new vehicles — even armed with a $4,500 voucher.
Seems to me, if the government is really serious about getting more of us into fuel-efficient roadsters, it would increase the mileage requirements and let us buy a used car with our handout. The good news is that the bill goes to the Senate before it passes. And the Senate might be mulling changes to the mpg requirements and offering a smaller voucher for us poor slobs who can only afford a used car. Both of those would vastly improve the program.
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