Before opening the billion dollar flood gates did the White House ever consider the massive reaction and paper nightmare created by the “cash for clunkers” program?
At a time when auto dealerships are shutting their agencies the “cash for clunkers” program was to be the auto industry’s panacea to fuel product sales. So auto dealers by the hundreds accepted trade in’s, personally provided rebates, yet are cooling their jets awaiting compensation by who else, our efficiently run federal government.
The following AP report confirms that dealers in New York are pulling out of the “cash for clunkers” program. Someone should be fired for failing to make sure that all systems were in place before launching this massive dealer bailout.
The auto dealers, who surely don’t have the deep pockets of this administration, should not be on the hook for rebates related to these higher MPG auto sales. Following is part of Dan Strumpf’s report. The full story link is provided at the end of this post.
NY dealers pull out of clunkers program
NEW YORK (AP) – Hundreds of auto dealers in the New York area have withdrawn from the government’s Cash for Clunkers program, citing delays in getting reimbursed by the government, a dealership group said Wednesday.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.
“(The government) needs to move the system forward and they need to start paying these dealers,” said Mark Schienberg, the group’s president. “This is a cash-dependent business.”
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.
“The program is a great program in the sense that it’s creating a lot of floor traffic that a lot of dealers haven’t seen in a long time,” he said.
“But it’s in the hands of this enormous bureaucracy and regulatory agency,” he added. “If they don’t get out of their own way, this program is going to be a huge failure.”
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9A63RC81&show_article=1
Great minds larry, great minds…
And what will they do to our healthcare? One has to wonder.
“We’re the government … & we’re here to help” …
s/bigbrother
This is what happens when the top comes out with a new program and had no idea what it takes to implement it. Sounds good initially but implimentation is always difficult for any new program.
Those dealers will get their money, no doubt. It’s better to get part of your money late, than to have your cars sit on the lot with no sales at all.
Personally, I don’t like the program. Just another bailout for businesses.
Let me also add that both sides are using this “clunkers” program as a political point. The simple fact is that it’s NOT a huge success like the liberals were saying a couple weeks ago and it’s not a huge failure like what conservatives are saying now.
It’s just a stupid government bailout that does what it was suppose to do… but not as smooth as many had hoped. Just a few billions down the toilet, but that’s what politicians do.
lam
The scary side of this program is that we have drivers trading in their older cars, that in most cases are probably paid off, to take on new debt at a time when hundreds of thousands of jobs continue to be lost.
Buy now and pay me later, if you can.
President Obama just said that the dealers will all be paid. What he fails to comprehend is that with months of no activity, and inventory on their lots for which they may have monthy payment obligations, some dealers have simply run out of operating capital.
But what do I know. This is all above my pay grade.
Cash for clunkers will stop this monday.
It was such a HUGE failure! Not.
lol