You have just got to love this Fu$king pathetic nonsense, I mean come on, when DOES it end, can someone tell me???? With all these green shoots and talk about the economy coming back in the end of the 4Qu of 2009 why the fu$k do we need these programs, enough is enough already, all the stupid bulls believe that the economy is turning around and that everything is better, what fools. The market is up 45%+ from march lows due to government intervention, manipulation, trillions of dollars being printed at a time and stupid bulls who think the economy is going to roar back. Is anyone that stupid to believe the economy is going to roar back and continue growing at 3% and 4%. The consumer is now looking ever so desperate as the government continues to hand out free money. All were doing is creating more debt........ Senate reaches deal to save 'cash for clunkers' AP By KEN THOMAS and LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press Writers Ken Thomas And Laurie Kellman, Associated Press Writers â 14 mins ago WASHINGTON â The Senate reached a deal on saving the dwindling "cash for clunkers" program late Wednesday, agreeing to vote on a plan that would add $2 billion to the popular rebate program and give car shoppers until Labor Day to trade in their gas-guzzlers for a new ride. Following lengthy negotiations, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats and Republicans had agreed to vote on the plan Thursday, along with a series of potential changes to the bill, which was passed by the House last week. Reid has said Democrats have enough votes to approve the measure and reject any changes that would cause an interruption in the rebates of up to $4,500. Reid said the agreement "accomplishes what we need to accomplish." Late Wednesday, it was not clear that any of the proposed amendments stood a chance of passing. Some of them included placing an income limit on those benefiting from the vouchers and requiring the government to sell off its stakes in General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC. Any Senate changes to the bill would require another vote in the House, something that couldn't take place until the House returns in September from a monthlong recess. The government said Wednesday that more than $775 million of the $1 billion fund had been spent, accounting for nearly 185,000 new vehicles sold. President Barack Obama has said the program would go broke by Friday if not replenished by Congress. Administration officials have estimated the additional $2 billion could fund another 500,000 vehicle sales and last into Labor Day. That's the same day the Senate was to follow the House into the August recess, a looming break that Senate leaders often use to prod their colleagues past standoffs. "We all acknowledge there's a significant majority that want to move forward with this legislation," Reid, D-Nev., said earlier in the day, adding that he has the votes to approve the House-passed version as is. His Republican counterpart, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, concurred that the matter would be settled soon. And objectors conceded they do not have the votes to force all of the changes they want, or to block the House version of the bill. "My guess is, at the end of the day, it will pass," said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., who called it an example of "Congress choosing winners and losers among industries." The program offers car buyers rebates of between $3,500 and $4,500 for trading in their gas-guzzlers for new, higher-mileage models. The new funding would triple the cost of $1 billion rebate program and give as many as a half-million more Americans the chance to grab the new car incentives through September. Car companies have credited the clunkers program with driving up sales in late July. Most consumers are buying smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles under the program, according to a list of the top-10 selling cars released Wednesday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Among manufacturers, General Motors Co. had the largest share, accounting for 18.7 percent of new sales, followed by Toyota Motor Corp. with 17.9 percent. Ford Motor Co. was third with 16 percent of the sales. Detroit automakers represented 45.3 percent of the total sales while Japan's Toyota, Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. accounted for 36.5 percent. The Toyota Corolla is the top-selling vehicle on the list, followed by the Ford Focus, Honda Civic, Toyota Prius and the Toyota Camry. There is one SUV on the list, the Ford Escape, which also comes in a hybrid model that can get up to 32 miles per gallon. Six of the top-10 selling vehicles are built by foreign manufacturers, but most are built in North America. Among states, Michigan has taken most advantage of the program, requesting more than $44 million in vehicle vouchers. California dealers had requested nearly $40 million in vouchers, and Ohio had sought nearly $38 million. Senate passage would send the legislation to the White House for Obama's signature and assure consumers there will be no interruption in the program that has led to packed car dealerships nationwide. The deals are aimed at boosting auto sales, which have been at their lowest levels in two decades.
this program is working. it is emptying dealer lots so dealers will need to order more cars driving employment right up the line. in addition car sales generate good tax revenue for the states. a dealer in my area reported he has his best month in his history going. in the big picture 2 billion is not much money. we are still spending about 2 billion a week fighting wars. dont hear anybody complaining about that.
exactly. at least it's better than just piss away billions on wars or bs bailouts http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090806/bs_nm/us_aig_wallstreet
His best month in history due to government intervention in the market place, how about free handouts to every sector of the market, maybe they should give $2000 vouchers for home appliances to help boost General electric or maytags bottom line and maybe give a boost to retailers like macys, the gap, fu$k it give it to the cheesecake factory or pfchangs maybe a nice steak house like Ruth Chris,maybe they can pay 1/2 my tab on a dinner for 2 on a nice filet or t-bone.
Actually, not a bad idea, give everyone $ 100 to spend at a restaurant. At least then I will know where the money went. I have no idea what happened to the $ 1 trillion in supposed stimulus.
In that case please send my share of the $2B to the IRS then. Wait, what if those that actually benefitted from it paid for it!?!? Nevermind, I forgot...
Well, you'll here me complain plenty about these idiotic wars. Why should we spend more on military than all the other countries in the world combined!!! It's lunacy. Then on to cash for clunkers. This is also lunacy. We are borrowing money to subsidize the car industry. That's fine, and some of it gets recovered via sales tax and licensing fees, but creating artificial demand via borrowed money will only lead to trouble later. Better to bite the bullet and force the auto industry to scale down to a sustainable size. And don't forget that even those of us who are not rushing out to acquire more debt by buying a car will end up transferring some of our wealth to the automobile industry via the inflation that going to result from monetizing all of this debt.