Well, I look at it this way.
First, I wish it was only for American made cars. Or at least cars with at least 50% North American content. I am not in favor of a program that gives the same rebate for a Korean made Kia or Hyundai.
For nearly 200 years, this country had import tariffs to finance the federal government. It works just fine. A 15% import tariff on foreign cars is a fair price to pay in my opinion, to level the playing field against a country where the manufacturers have no medical health insurance bills to pay for their employees to build into the price.
Except when the House was debating limiting it to American content cars, the republicans spoke out about "free trade" and NAFTA laws, and World Trade violations.
Republicans tried to stop the plan. So the Congress passed cash for clunkers without any American content restrictions.
I live in a place where unemployment is now 17.1% (Detroit area MSA is 17.1. Right next door is Flint MSA, with a current unemployment rate of 17.4%. See the facts at:
http://www.milmi.org/admin/uploadedPublications/463_econsit.htm )
And, a month ago, I went into a local Pontiac Dealer, and talked to a salesman there.
I asked him how car sales were going, and he smiled weakly, and told me he sold two cars the week before. I asked him how many this week, and he said zero.
I was the only customer in the dealership.
I looked at a new ethanol flex-fuel G6, took it for a test drive. But I did nothing else. I didn't buy it.
That was on July 3rd.
Yesterday, I drove by the same dealership.
The local paper had an article in it, that said that the day before, that dealership sold 24 cars in one day.
So, you ask me- what do I think of cash for clunkers?
Well, if it brings people into the showroom, and allows them to sell 24 cars in one day, then that allows each of those salesmen to earn a living.
And now they will order more cars.
And that will mean that the local auto plant in Lake Orion, Michigan, which has been on a 9 week shutdown, and having laid off most of the workers, will be able to call back some workers and open up again. I think that is good. People working.
And since they will be building cars again, some of the auto suppliers in my local area will be able to reopen again. And put people back to work. In my area, that will be good.
Auto workers, working.
Auto supplier workers, working.
Auto dealers, working.
Money staring to flow in the economy. The autoworker then can buy other goods and services we need. That employs others. Now we start to put people back to work.
We spent what, about 800 billion, bailing out banks?
And what did that get us? Not a single job that I can see.
They reduced tax withholding, and sent out some $250 stimulus checks out there. What did that do for the economy? Not a whole lot.
But with a single billion in Cash for Clunkers- they got 24 people to buy a car in one day at one dealer here.
When the program was originally proposed in the House, the price tag was $4 billion. Republicans in the Senate mashed it down to one billion. Well, that only lasted a short time. Now the House is tossing two more billion at it, since it seems to work, has spurred a lot of sales, and is allowing the economy to move forward.
I'd say that is a better investment - those 3 billion total, than any of the other bailout money's proposed.
What's good for General Motors is good for the country. Charlie Wilson said that in 1954 to U.S. Senators, in the midst of a recession. It was true back then, and I think it is just as true today.
I believe that still holds true. A few billion into cash for clunkers will spur our economy out of the decline, and start us moving forward once again.
And I think that will be good.
