Cash for Clunkers Gets $2B, Back on Track

[Fat Charlie]

[QUOTE=darcane;486833Yes, there was a boost to the auto industry, but at a large cost both in taxes and in increased cost in the used car market, with little to no benefit to the person buying the car. That marks it as a huge failure in my book.[/QUOTE]

You say that like its intent was ever to help regular Joes.

Unions and various industry lobbying groups loved it.

[Katmandu]

Originally Posted by Iexpedite

If you think about it people that drive clunkers do so because they either can't afford a new car (making bad decisions) or they refuse to buy (a good decision). This program motivated good decision makers to upgrade. It didn't subsidize to the point that irresponsible people could make that leap.

Exactly.

Poor people have many, many more barriers to deal with. Those barriers are often times not their own doing or a result of their own choices.

[Katmandu]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

I pretty much always think needless destruction is wasteful and ignorant. A lot of perfectly good equipment was destroyed.

Isn't that the truth! So many good classic parts got needlessly destroyed. They could have very easily made this into a boon for the used parts dealers. Ended up being a boon for the scrappers.

[Katmandu]

Originally Posted by Iexpedite

I tend to interpret things differently than others. It was a blessing throughout my career, unfortunately it can also lead to some confusion. When you said another "program subsidizing irresponsible people who make bad decisions" I thought you were saying poor people. To me they are typically who government subsidies go to. They are widely considered financially irresponsible as well as poor decision makers. What did I miss.

Rich folks buying gas guzzling toys. Is that a "bad" decision on their part ??

[Iexpedite]

Originally Posted by Katmandu

Rich folks buying gas guzzling toys. Is that a "bad" decision on their part ??

If you have the money you can buy whatever you want.

I feel like the bad decisions come into play when you trade too much of your time for money paying for things you can't really afford.