“Cash for Clunkers” ends Monday!
Was this program a success, or what?!!!
Money is running out on the $3 billion “Cash for Clunkers” Program! So far, the program has yielded 457,000 cars and $1.9 billion in rebates. Today the government announced that the program will shut down on Monday! Dealers must submit any pending Clunker deals, including the necessary paperwork, by 8 PM ET on Monday. When the extension was passed, folks hoped that the money would hold out until Labor Day.
Officials decided to shut down the program on Monday after determining that the program would soon run out of money. (That was $3 billion in roughly 3 weeks – not much by the “bailing out financial corporations” standards, but money that will actually stimulate the economy, and has.)
I got mine; now you go get yours! 
Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood said, “It’s been a thrill to be part of the best economic news story in America. Now we are working toward an orderly wind down of this very popular program.”
Jeremy Anwyl, chief executive of the automotive Web site, Edmunds.com, said, “We expect there will be a flurry of activity over the weekend as the program comes to a close.”
The Transportation Department has recently hired additional personnel to process rebates, in response to dealer complaints about slow processing. Cash for Clunkers has been wildly popular. The program ran through its initial $1 billion in its first week. Lawmakers approved a $2 billion extension on August 7. The program has been credited with increasing auto sales and causing several automakers to reopen closed plants to refill inventories. J.D. Pwers and Associates forecast that auto sales in August, excluding fleet sales to businesses, will pas the 1 million unit mark thanks to the program. This would make August the first 1-million-plus retail sales month in a year!
Critics of the program, I would say that you cannot argue with success! (But some of you will anyway….)
-Bill at Cheshire Cat Photo™
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