Daily Gut: Cash for Clunkers
by Greg GutfeldSo last week I was reading up on the “Cash for Clunkers” program – which just got approved by the Senate – hoping to talk about it on the show. I gave up, however, because it didn’t make any sense to me.
Then it dawned on me. It didn’t have to make sense! It’s a government program. As long as it’s paved with good intentions, it doesn’t matter if it’s a road to nowhere.
So let me try to make sense of this for you (believe me, it’s not easy).
The goal here is to get gas-guzzlers off the roads. So the government is offering a voucher worth anywhere between $3500 to $4500 for your guzzler, which must then be used to buy a new car. How do you qualify?
(Breathe deeply.)
You can trade in a car getting 18 miles per gallon or less for a car getting at least 22 mpg. But the voucher would grow to $4,500 if the new car’s mileage is 10 mpg higher. Now, if you own an old SUV, you could receive a $3500 voucher, if your new wheels gets only two more gallons per mile. Now, if it’s five more miles per gallon – then you get an extra grand.
A caveat: unlike my houseboys, the car you want to trade must be at least 25-years-old. Or maybe younger (actually I never understood that part).
You follow me? Good – then find a gun and shoot me in the face.
Now, here’s the fun part. None of this makes any sense for you, if the car you’re unloading is worth more than the voucher. Meaning this only works for old cars worth under 3500 bucks. And if that’s the case – then the government pays and loses money on every junk heap.
Lastly, consider trying to find someone with a piece of crap up on blocks in their front yard who can suddenly afford a new car, even with a voucher.
You can count all of them on one foot – even if you’re missing a toe.
So, in sum, welcome to the rebirth of big government. It’ll drive you nuts just thinking about it.
Tonight: Dr. Michael Baden, Ann Coulter, Patti Anne Browne and Ron Geraci. Plus, if she’s up to it: my mom!
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132 Comments
This is the best reason to remember we want government to control as little of our lives as possible.
"It’ll drive you nuts just thinking about it."
Or off a cliff
And how soon does this "voluntary" trade in program become mandatory?
It's supposed to go to cars that are 25 years and younger… because most cars that are over 25 years are "classics" and are usually "worth" more than a non-classic car and not usually driven on a daily basis… so if you have a 2000 SUV you can trade it in under this program…. at least this is how I understood it from the article on Yahoo!.
http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_content_lan...
I don't suppose Hot Wheels count? My husband is a collector. We could make a KILLING! Or not.
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I am just floored at the amount of money that Obama has been throwing at our current fiscal situation…. It is PATHETIC, that WE THE PEOPLE are going to be paying for people to get new cars and to back GM or GOVERNMENT MOTORS….Just floored by the ignorance of the CHOSEN ADMINISTRATION…..
This appears to be a pathetic effort to stimulate car sales and it will work about as good as the tax credit on hybrids. If they really want car sales to improve let the market do it's job and drive down prices. The biggest reason cars are not selling is because they are dramatically overpriced given their quality. That sort of thing doesn't float in a bad economy.
Yesterday.
I think this is a good step but not far enough.
Personally, I would make the cash for clunkers program MANDATORY for ALL pre-2005 model year cars, INCLUDING THE SO-CALLED "CLASSICS" – NO EXCEPTIONS!
There is NO REASON WHAT SO EVER for anyone to own a car made before 2005, period. I know the grampas will be upset but you know what? Our planet is in peril right now and your '57 T-bird is NOT helping things, so it has to go.. If you want to "go down memory lane" use a photo album or movie, not a gross polluting gas hog!
We can't afford to let all of the pre-84 crap go on to smog up the world either. By eliminating all gross polluters, you will stimulate the economy by a) making the "rich" buy new cars and b) making the "poor" ride on public transit, which should be expanded greatly and built from the steel of the scrapped junkers for symbolism involved as well, but I digress… Letting people crank up a stinky old AMC Pinto every morning is killing our planet!
Let go of the past, embrace the Change, and let's clean up the trash.
I can go out buy a clunker for say $500.00, then trade it in on the new BMW I have my eyes on and save $4000.00. In addition, I have seen people trade in multiple vehicles so my 2006 Honda gets thrown into the deal also.
Why not? My husband is driving around in a 2004 and I am driving around in a 2002…. they both run just fine and require only regular maintainance… It's wasteful to buy a car every couple of years for no reason… :/
And the planet is not in "peril"…. you really need to quite listening to Al Gore and his flunkies…. there is no conclusive science that states cars and humans are the sole reason for Climate Change… and just because a GOVERNMENT panel (ie IPCC) says so doesn't make it so…. In fact, I wouldn't trust "science" that comes out of ANY government entity that doesn't have independant studies to back it up.
You want to drive around in the Prissy Prius… then that's fine… But until my car breaks down (which isn't likely even at almost 200,000 miles) I will not get a new car for the hell of it.
How exactly does destroying a working machine in any way lead to an increase in the nation's wealth?
Isn't that the definition of paying one person to dig a hole, and paying another to fill it in?
hehe.. I'm waiting for someone to definitely take advantage of this one just like you wrote Bill…
I own a 2000 Chevrolet Monte Carlo with 85,000 miles on it. It's in great shape – I maintain it and it passes the stringent California emissions standards with flying colors. Actually, it runs so clean it puts out almost no pollutants.
Even with this "rebate", I can't afford a new car. So I do the best I can to keep mine running as well as it can. Most pre-2005 cars put out far far FAR less pollutants than public transportation.
Also, sometimes I work past 1am – public transportation doesn't run that late. Besides, how am I supposed to carry my drum kit home from a gig?
Obama wants to give free money to people who already have enough money to buy gas-guzzling SUVs. Hmm…
So let me get this straight.. the average lease/purchase plan for a car is 4 years (if I Remember rightly?)
SO since you've dated cars as before 2005…. I"m assuming you're picking a 4 year cycle…
SO as SOON as I get one car paid off, I have to trade it in… so that I can pay for another car (that will definitely have the prices go higher due to standard inflation….)… so I can STAY In debt for my entire adult life?
Yeah, that's a "BRILLIANT" idea… hell my 93 Saturn probably has NEAR 300,000 miles (Damn Walmart for screwing up my odometer)…and it still works _just_ fine.. so why do i Have to give it up, so I can put money in the Union's pockets? Un-uh… NOT HAPPENING.
But Bush spent money! Sure it was way less – way, WAAAY less – but Bush did it! Bush did it! What, you think it's RIGHT to spend money on a war that Congress approved and the Democrats hawked for 10 years, until we actually went and it became unpopular, but it's not RIGHT to spend money on our INFRASTRUCTURE?!? What are you, a NEOCON?!?
The founder of the Weather Channel is suing St. Gore with a cadre of 30.000 scientists including 9,000 PhDs, and they beg to differ with St. Gore's assessment that the planet is in peril.
And why should we get rid of our excellently maintained 2003 Pontiac GrandAm when it gets 30mpg and more when it's allowed to drink something other than an ethanol blend? My little Hyundai is late 90's model that has less than 65K miles on it, gets better mileage than the Pontiac (being a 4 cylinder) and is similarly excellently maintained.
The only way I'd trade either in at the moment is if I could buy a foreign made car. No government-made cars for me thanks.
I wonder if you can get the vounchers on top of taking advantage of one of those push, pull, or drag it in any trade for $2000 deals … junkyard, here I come!
You've been drinking too much green kool-aid.
Classic Marxism 101. Destroy the past, so no new little citizens know what they're missing. Mao would be proud.
You're too kind. It's just a pathetic effort at PR.
The Pinto was a Ford product, not AMC. Get your facts straight.
Couple of thoughts on that: defense is legitimate spending. One can legitimately argue whether Iraq was a defensive war that should have been waged. I tend to believe we were legitimately enforcing a U.N. Resolution violation that the rest of the pussies (read France) on the security council wouldn't for political reasons. There was no question Saddam at one time had W.M.D.'s and it was not just our own intelligence agencies that believed that. Plus, we owed the Kurds from before,
Infrastructure spending is o.k. up to a point. It won't stimulate the economy. And, as you point out, Obama is spending WAAAY more — on stupid porkulus projects that primarily benefit his political base. General Motors is a DISGRACE. Are you a SOCIALIST?
Couple of thoughts on that: defense is legitimate spending. One can legitimately argue whether Iraq was a defensive war that should have been waged. I tend to believe we were legitimately enforcing a U.N. Resolution violation that the rest of the pussies (read France) on the security council wouldn't for political reasons. There was no question Saddam at one time had W.M.D.'s and it was not just our own intelligence agencies that believed that. Plus, we owed the Kurds from before,
Infrastructure spending is o.k. up to a point. It won't stimulate the economy. And, as you point out, Obama is spending WAAAY more — on stupid porkulus projects that primarily benefit his political base. General Motors is a DISGRACE. Are you a SOCIALIST?
There is NO REASON WHAT SO EVER for anyone to own a car made before 2005,
Garneubie.
I am currently driving a 2004 that gets 22+ mpg. The milage has just recently crossed the 31,000 mark.
The car is in great shape. So there is a reason to own a pre 2005 car.
But then what was I thinking. The Fed Govt wants us all to own a brand new Pelosi Moble.
http://conservativevoiceofreason.blogspot.com/200...
is it just me or is this program a slap in the face for the three remaining owners of the Yugo?
I would like to kidnap Planet_Hero, strap him to a chair, pry open his eyes with toothpicks, and force him to watch The Speed Channel until his balls drop down and hair starts growing on his chest.
There are some rants that are so ideologic and void of supporting facts a person has to wonder about the ranters mental health. Chumps for Change, I mean cash for clunkers, is a totally bogus program. It assumes the target vehicles are significant which is not necessarily true. It won't take enough of the target vehicles off the street to make any differences. And it may entice people who can't afford a car to buy a car just because they're getting a 'discount' at our expense. There's no proof that our feeble attempts will reverse GW as GW may be a normal thousand year cycle of earth warming/cooling. Many people don't believe the earth is cooling at all. There is no conscensus in the scientific community. It's become a political football for the benefit of a select few. There no consensus that the world developing powers will buy into this attempt to control their economies and give the GW proponents greater power over their actions. This whole idea sounds like a govenrment 'bake sale'.
So….I'm guessing this $3,500-$4,500 dollar voucher is going to cost the taxpayer……..what?…..$100,000
I have a 1992 Honda Accord LX
It gets 26mpg or better (with tires properly inflated of course)
Passed smog after getting new catalytic converter
Worth about $950 (good condition) Looks like new. It's a Honda!
It's an old car. Do I qualify?
I sold somebody a used Yugo once in the 80's…I think there's still a contract out on me…
uh,..nevermind.
It would be cheaper to build a huge fleet of strech limos and hire personal drivers…Oh nevermind we have a CONGRESS already doing that.
I can't tell if you knew I was being sarcastic or not … that's the response I always get whenever I point out the insane amounts of money this administration is spending.
The good news is this is what we’re up against kids and their fantasies, regurgitating worn out leftist tripe. I’ve heard this same crap for 40yrs. That being said, you attempt to outlaw something as entrenched and American as the Classic American Street Rod there’ll be armed insurrection.
This is another piece of Obama's dream to Euro-ize the U.S., everybody that isn't priced out of car ownership padding around in little Euro-mobiles, Italian style, and I don't mean Ferrari or Maserati either. As I said before the look on the face of this big old Italian dude that lived in a nice part of Rome FOLDING himself into a dinky toy Euro-mobile and putting off was tragic. That was until I saw a pretty Italian mom fitting a kid size motorcycle helmet on her little blond headed daughter and having her stand on the foot platform and holding on to the handlebars while she tore off into crazy Italian traffic…absolute lunacy. I'll sign up when Mrs. Obama suits up the girls, jumps on her scooter and heads them off to Sidwell Friends for school. Not very damn likely…
Bill has it right, anyone in the market for a new car will go buy a ~20yr old junker just to trade it in. Does the junker have to run- or can you just get it towed to the dealer. Heck, will the dealer throw the tow in free just to make a sale?
I'm curious, what happens to the trade in clunker? Do the car dealer's sell it out the back door where it will be sold to the next person looking to trade it in? Even if the dealers have to dispose of it to a scrap yard, scrap yards can sell cars with a 'salvage' title- are salvage title cars exempted from the program?
Oh and BTW, there's a shortage of new SUVs on the market. SUVs are now selling almost at sticker and late model used have regained a lot of value.
Satire is so hard to identify anymore.
In any case, I've voting "satire" for this comment because everyone knows that the pollutant and carbon impact of a *new* car is far greater than continuing to drive an existing (old) car, particularly if a person is willing to drive it into the ground.
Everyone knows this, right?
Since I couldn't tell you were being sarcastic and you couldn't tell if I knew or not if you were being sarcastic, I can only conclude that we are both clever nuanced rascals.
I mean with semen, not guns.
You know what I think is funny? I work in an Obama Central in California. I've had to put up with these insufferable prats for ages, listen to their lectures and posturing. Guess what all of them are buying, or thinking of buying, or want to buy? The new trendy hipster car, the Nissan 370Z. Gets 17/18 miles to the gallon.
People don't want tiny, fuel-efficient cars. Even when gas is $5 a gallon, they want a FUN car, a car that LOOKS GOOD. In a free society, we supposedly have the right to buy such things.
What we have here ladies and gentlemen is dimwitted ‘60s dogma and it’s fully exposed for all to see. In 2010 when these same leftist droogs come selling their phony centrist horse squeeze remember these are devout leftist that love their Barry, the state, and your money. Could you imagine these same beaurocratic bozo’s taking care of our health care, hmm…
As usual the government has no sweet deal for me. Oh, that's right~ we have an income.
I guess it must be less polluting to operate car factories, filled with commuting workers, using raw materials and energy, than it is to drive old clunkers?
Of such bricks are government bankrupcies built. And as a Californian, I know of which I speak.
I can see, within a year, that the Federal guv'ment is going to try a gun buy-back program and it will be a first step in the attempt to disarm us. You can roll your eyes and call me paranoid(or just plain anoyyed) but, six months ago, did anyone think that an Administration could get away with the things The Unholy Mess has gotten away with? (Big and small)
I guess our planet is in about as much peril now as it was in the mid 1970's when the tragedy of the day then was the impending ICE AGE. Yeah, I can sure remember that ICE AGE about as much as those 25 years from now are going to remember when Florida went underwater from the rising sea levels.
New cars for the masses yaaay ! Long live our great leader Kim iL Obama !
StlDan you are most wise in five short months you’ve learned, ta da… “Barry math, just tell’um what they wanna hear, and give’em a wink, smile and a thumbs up.” You must always remember it’s for the children.
Cool on the limos Jamesb!
I roll in a Toyota Yaris 3-door hatchback. Wanna know a key difference between me and liberal regarding cars? I chose my Yaris because I like my Yaris, and seeing an H2, a Tahoe, an Excursion, a Land Cruiser or any other large, full-framed vehicle doesn't bother me a bit. Imagine people having the gall to want to drive their children around in cars that are big, elevated, heavy and safe(r)! Wanna know another difference? I know what it's like to go 119 mph in a Yaris on an open country road, and believe me, it doesn't feel like shame – it feels marvelous. Yes, My $13K car has seen the far right side of the speedometer more than most Benzes. I'm an American, and I like to drive fast. I've seen the horrid Yaris crash tests – that only makes it that much more fun.
Good piece, Gut.
The bill–within the confines of the real world & free market–will be exploited by corrupt people & will have unintended consequences; furthermore, most people will ignore this bill & the Government Motors vehicles will still rot in the sun. People are not going to buy Government Motors cars. The government is wasting our money with this stupid law.
The oldest car the government will accept is made in 1984.
OK, I know this guy's a troll, but wow. First, the theories that A) There is global warming, B) It's man-caused and C) All these proposed schemes would make a difference are cuncertain laims for which each is less certain than the one preceeding it. Second "Planet-Hero's" proposal entirely ignores the enormous carbon footprint and environmental involved in creating, transporting for sale and disposing of the number of additional cars that would need to be built if all cars had a planned 4-year obsolescence. Enviro-nuts are funny, they just shouldn't be allowed where they have access to sharp objects or influence over the lives of others.
Yeah. That'll work. Most cars that are 25+ years old are now considered classics and worth more than $4,500 in restoration value even if they are clunkers. I wonder if the Whitehouse or Congress ever reads the want ads before making such a boneheaded move. Nah that would mean they would actually have to really READ something besided their text messages. That don't even read the Bills before voting on them so….
You dare defy Planet_ Zero, he is most wise, and like Owlgore he to can see into the future.
Isn't there a clause that the new car has to be a Government Motors Chinese model? I think we need to READ carefully.
Planet hero, leave some kool-aid for the others.
The american taliban strikes again.
Wow. I could trade in a non-running lawn decoration, add in cash back, and get a new KIA for about what I would pay for a decent "in my price range" used car. No loan needed.
So I can see the Washington trend of getting running American vehicles off the road in favor of cheap imports is continuing.
You can not even tell a joke, if you need to explain it, it's not funny.
Locally a new upscale vehicle costs about the same as a house, one that only needs some fixing-up someday. The Escalade or a loaded pick-up may look nice, but no toilet and no shower. And I think the government incentive is currently higher for a first-time home buyer.
So if you have the credit rating, now is the best time to buy a house and drive a clunker.
I agree that he's going to pull something soon- probably the beginning of next year. He wants to fast track all of this agenda-driven madness before the 2010 elections, so yeah. He may also be waiting to attack the 2nd Ammend. until after Sotomayor gets installed. But attack it he will, and with the backing of the UN if possible.
May he fail miserably.
If the planet is going to allow pipsqueaks like us to push it around then it deserves to die, it's obviously already given up. If the Planet weren't such a wuss, it could wipe out 90% of us or more with just one volcanic uprising or by getting one of it's friends floating nearby to smash into it.
You know what? Everything is really fine on Planet Earth, the only problem is all the nitwits save something that isn't in peril.
you are right, I can not.
Build a hybrid that looks like a Corvette and can top 140 mph and I'll buy it. Build a silly looking piece of crap that gets 80 miles per gallon and can't top 50 mph and I will not buy it. It's that simple.
Okay – so let me get this straight. You can trade in your "old" gas guzzler and they will give you either a $3500 or $4500 voucher. You use this money on a new car. Now you've got a car payment…and now you lose your job…and now they repossess the car cause you can't make your payments…gee sounds like a great deal to me…NOT.
You want a good laugh? go to http://www.youtube.com and type in Pelosi Car. Then click on the 2012 Pelosi GTXi. Hilarious.
Satire is good, I'm thinkin that us peons who, shocking to the cognisenti I know, actually knew all about the "over 22mpg" thingees, paid extra anyway to have their "over 22mph" un-greenies, and find that public trans sucks, will no doubt defy Obi Iwon and continue to buy BMW's instead of East German Ladas.
I note your un-logic in confiscating the old stuff. I own a 1966 289HP Mustang, and to quote our president, Charlton Heston, "..from my cold, dead hands.."
Con, You have the false assumption that we live in a free society.
Who called the court jester?
I was astounded to find that my 1995 Olds Cutlass Ciera doesn't qualify, because even being 15 years old it gets 20 mpg. I can afford a new car, but I am that frugal type who drives a car until the wheels fall off. This was actually making me consider a new car because I honestly wouldn't mind giving one of those Ford escape hybrids a go.
You seem to be the automotive expert here so here's a question. Why 2005? Is there something special about 2005 and prior that we in the automotive industry are not aware of? Please let us in on the secret! Would you also scrap all the pre 05 LEV and ULEV vehicles? Please supply facts to back up your assertions……..
If you haven't crawled back under your rock yet………
My understanding is you have to be able to prove you have insured the vehicle for the past 12 months, so before anyone runs out to pillage the local junkyard, get the facts. Don't get me wrong- I think this administration is killing capitalism & everything else that makes America the unique and wonderful country it is. ObamACORN = Worst. President. Evah.
Is Planet Hero serious? First of all, the way out of the country's troubles is to save. I have a '96 Accord which actually gets better mileage now than it did two years ago: 30mpg at 233,000miles. My goal is to take it to 300,000.
I couldn't be prouder and at this point it's a free car with zero payments. Finally, (This is getting old) global warming is a hoax. The sun is in hibernation with virtually no sunspots. This means serious cold cometh. The planet is fine and I'm keeping my car.
Already happening! Small companies with fleet vehicle are already looking at buying DOA vehicles to get the additional credit for new fleet vehicles. They are going to keep the old vehicles (which they then sell)but use the "dead clunkers" to get the credit when purchasing new ones……..
Not very hard to scam this plan. You get the money and keep the "old vehicle" that legislation is targeted at……..Way to go Barry…………..
And, not sure on this, but I have been told that if you are a married couple and are trading in two cars for one new one you "will" get double the money! Not sure if it's true, but I have not seen anything to contradict this.
I was waiting for the Cash for Clunkers bill to arrive, as I wanted to trade in a '86 Maxima. As soon as I saw the proposed rules I knew it was not going to work for me so I bought a used '07 Azera and sold the Maxima to a co-worker. This program wasn't designed to sell many cars, just more busy work to appear to be doing something.
Yes, people will take advantage of this bill. Check out what happened in Arizona with their attempt at "earth friendly" vehicles.
http://www.stateline.org/live/ViewPage.action?sit...
"There is NO REASON WHAT SO EVER for anyone to own a car made before 2005, period. I know the grampas will be upset but you know what? Our planet is in peril right now and your '57 T-bird is NOT helping things, so it has to go.. If you want to "go down memory lane" use a photo album or movie, not a gross polluting gas hog!"
When naive people say to me "even if we are wrong about Global Warming, what's the harm?", I will refer them to this post.
AMC Pinto. Hmm. Ok, there are probably about 10 AMC's left in America, maybe half that many Ford Pintos- and they are killing the planet. OK. How do you kill a planet? Seems like you can ram a meteor into it, kill some ungodly percentage of life, wait a few million years and voila! new species, green planet, and Al Gore. Did this kill the planet? Our planet has been much warmer in the past then it is now. Did it die then? If all of the recent warming were due to sunspots, or natural Al Gore gasseous emissions, would you still advocate devoting huge chunks of human effort to control the weather, or would that just be mother nature and we need to deal with it? By the way, if you are fearing warming, please let us know the optimal earth temperature and lets tax the world and engineer systems to override nature's cycles and get the planet to the "right" temperature. Hey maybe giant fans all over the earth could cool it down. And we could put windmills in the breeze they create to power the fans! Hey look at me I'm green!
Primer, the reason I chose 2005 is because that is exactly 4 years from 2009. Obviously, as time progresses the cutoff date would progress as well, i.e. in 2010 the cutoff would be 2006 MY and so on and so forth…
Yes, pre-05 LEV and ULEV vehicles would also be scrapped. The idea here is that in 4 years of average driving a vehicle wears to the point where it is putting out far too many CO2 emissions compared to a brand new car, and LEV/ULEVs are no exception. Obviously some vehicles, such as taxis, would have to be scrapped on a tighter 2-or-3-year program, depending on average mileage, but no vehicle regardless of mileage would be allowed to be used for either transportation or parts after 4 years past its date of manufacture.
If people are serious about saving our planet we have to make some drastic changes, and fast.
"… Your cold, dead hands" eh? Tough talk over what, a hunk of metal?
Nevertheless, they cause a disproportionate amount of CO2 and noxious smog emissions and must be confiscated and crushed. Give the owners the credit for a new, more efficient, and more "earth-friendly" car and be done with it.
Like I have said before, there is no reason why anyone should own a junky 79 AMC Pinto or some other gas-hog relic like that,
If you aren't a bum or moron at your job, you keep it. It's that simple.
A Honda Accord of that vintage with as many miles as you have described produces far too many CO2 emissions and should be taken off of the roadways. I also would have serious concerns about its other vital mechanical systems.
I know you 'love" it but I guarentee that if you traded it in on a brand new Honda and got the credit you wouldn't miss it one bit! The new Fit is an exceptionally good small car with good mileage and far nicer style than your tired old dog!
Oh, and Global Climate Change IS happening, we are responsible, and it is up to us to stop it here and now so the children of the future don't live in a smog-filled, uninhabitable Hell of our making. Please come back to reality.
The sooner, the better for our Earth Mother, Gaia.
Okay, for one I don't own a car at all. As a city dweller I find our public transportation system more than adequate for my needs, assuming I can't bike to my destination. Although I admire the Prius I am in no hurry to go get one because I find it easier to not pay insurance, fuel, etc.
The cars you and your husband drive around may seem to run "fine" but every day they are putting out more and more CO2 and other pollutants as the mechanical components wear out. Sure, you're getting from point A to point B and it seems all well and good but the planet is suffering tremendously as your cars start chugging out the greenhouse gasses! Do you want that on your conscience?
You have children, right? How are you going to tell them, years from now, that you "had a 2002 and a 2004 model car back in 2009" but didn't care enough about them to upgrade and instead chugged pollutants out of the "fine running cars" for years after they had become gross polluters?
One – Pollutants produced by public transit are divided amongst ALL riders, and therefore have a much smaller net total than many cars with one or two riders at best.
Two – If you have a job that does not fit the schedule, change your job. As for your drum kit, there are many "cargo" trikes on the market now which would make that feasible AND would provide you with a nice work-out to boot!
That or you can be sensible and choose to use public transportation, bike to work, etc… Part of the main problem is the "entitlement to drive' mentality that Americans have these days – "Oh, I can't be bothered to ride to work, I have to drive because…. Well, because it's my RIGHT" (Which it isn't. There is no "right to drive")
Your Saturn should be junked immediately! 300,000 miles means it has a LOT of wear on not only the smog-producing ICE unit but the many other SAFETY related parts! Don't be a cheapskate, there's much at stake here…
You really have a poor outlook on the world don't you?
What past? The past with grey skies in all major cities? The lung cancers and CO2 gasses produced by decades of clunkers? I think the children would do well to NOT know that horrible age as we did!
As for the "tried-and-true" Marxism/Mao comments, all I can say is that I expect nothing more or less from the right-wing nutjobs who put guns over giving their fellow man a helping hand. Good day.
Whatever. It is irrelevant at this point. The point is that the clunkers of the past need to go away to save our future.
If you want to stroll down memory lane and argue about cars that are irrelevant that's fine, but please do so with a book and pictures instead of keeping these fossils on the roads!
That video wasn't very funny…
As for your 2004 model vehicle… Sorry, but you'd have to obey the law and send it in for crushing. NO EXCEPTIONS mean anything to you? You would get a handsome stipend towards a new vehicle though…
Wow, how funny… Well not really. I am probably "packing more where it counts" than YOU are, seeing how you are too busy watching The Speed Channel to find anyone to mingle with… As for chest hair, that's just nasty. Thank Goodness for waxing!
If there were armed insurrection over the "classic" clunkers A) It would be squelched pretty quick by our Boys in Uniform. They have the power, training, technology, and spirit to defend against ANY foe, foreign or domestic and B) It would ensure Democratic reign over both houses and the presidency for another 40 years plus because the right-wing hate machine would show its true colors – Yellow on the belly, black with skunk-like stripes on top, and BLOOD RED on its hands.
Go ahead and die defending your Vega, StanH. We can tow it off just as easy after we scrape you and your assault rifle off the street as we can if you cooperated.
That is not true, and even if it was these cars have been polluting for years, in some cases decades, and must "atone" for that pollution by being taken out before they are made to pollute again.
As the car industries get an influx of new buyers more and more money will be made available for on-site pollution mitigation, CO2 compliance equipment, and other "green" measures. Changes in the way cars are made will enable easier recycling and allow much of the pollution which would have been pumped out in the past to be completely eliminated. As such, new cars would prove to be better and better ideas than the thought of taking an old clunker and repairing it over and over while it spews out CO2 and other horrible things as it wears out.
Do you care about your children's future, or are you another "gimmie gimmie American"?
Everything is going to Hell in a handbasket and you say "Everything is really fine on Planet Earth"?
Have you not noticed the frightening changes which have occured? Have you done ANY research on Climate Change and its potential effects?
Watch the movie "The Day After Tomorrow" and if that doesn't chill you to the bone, you're probably dead already.
My husband just told me this was attached to a wartime military appropriations bill — in other words, it's money that could have gone to support our military, which was the only significant department asked by the incoming administration to cut their already-approved budget — by 10%. (As a military spouse, I can tell you that the 10% REALLY hurt; we are directly affected by it.)
Oh Planet_Zero you have truly proven you are a nitwit. Where do the boys in uniform come from stupid. A Vega WTF! You’d better hope the discourse stays civil.
To all parents Planet_Zero is what all the dollars sending our kids through college bought us, ill-informed little wussies all scared, and in their little minds the world began with Barry, God help us!
no jobs to afford to trade in my 1992 Caprice.Lost my House because of no work, so maybe he could bail all of us out ,with a new car., OH THATS RIGHT WE ARE BEING SCREWED BY THIS PRESIDENT! MARTY
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