Thread: Like it or not it worked

Cashing In on a Real Stimulus



The pace at which President Obama has been launching economic recovery initiatives is dizzying. No one can deny the fact that he is trying to heal our nation’s economic ills using any and all of his powers as president of the United States, whether you agree with his philosophy or not.



A recent and intriguing example of this sort of initiative is the Car Allowance Rebate System, commonly known as “Cash for Clunkers.� I was critical of the first stimulus package, and I’ve been disappointed by my party’s inabilities to produce legislation that truly stimulates our stagnant economy. But this program epitomizes the kind of positive role the government can play in affecting positive change in the economy and well beyond.



In the weeks immediately following the program’s implementation, it enjoyed wild success. Within six days of claims being processed, the allotted $1 billion for rebates had been exhausted. Candice Miller, R–Mich., even praised the program, saying “[t]his is one of those programs you can really see working. It has exceeded everyone's expectations.� Almost immediately, Congress acted to raise the money appropriated for the program, adding an additional $2 billion to the pot.



Cash for Clunkers� embodies the notion that government incentives can improve consumer confidence and boost sectors of our economy in times of crisis. This program is working. Thousands of Americans have already cashed in, and thousands more will see more jobs and opportunities created.



We need more of this kind of direct stimulus, the sort that kindles the economy from the bottom up. This is how stimuli are supposed to work, and we can all be proud of the jobs being created for our neighbors, the improvement of auto health across our country, and the ever-improving confidence of consumers in this economy



http://www.cw.ua.edu...mulus-1.1818042

Short-lived 'clunkers' program did its part to boost economy







More than 457,000 dealer transactions worth $1.9 billion were enacted as of Thursday afternoon. Despite some criticism about the fuel mileage gained, the program helped stimulate parts of the economy.



Just as it was supposed to do.



In a perfect world, there would be no need for an economic stimulus. But the past year's financial crisis showed that there is no way this is a perfect world.



Lawrence Summers, director of the president's National Economic Council , once said a stimulus package should be temporary, timely and targeted.



The "cash for clunkers" fits that direction perfectly. That's not to say it was a perfect program. But it certainly will do the nation more good -- stimulating spending and thus creating jobs -- than many of the longer-range, less-timely, and widely scattered projects still in the pipeline.



"Cash for clunkers" essentially put money into the hands of the people. They made their choices.



<P style="MARGIN: 0in 6.75pt 0pt 7.5pt">http://www.delawareo...25/1004/OPINION

Like it or not it worked. The cash for clunkers program put money in the hands of Americans, not in the hands of big business. Futhermore, it put it in the hands of those who were willing to help stimulate the economy by buying something. You hear of 700 billion dollar bailouts and this cost like 2 ! You can swallow the bubble bullshit if you want but that&#39;s a crock, we are not going to have mass car repossessions. Now we need to do it with a whole host of other products and not dump hundreds of billions at a pop on some monsterous corporation, get it to the people. You want to cash in them you spend some of your money, if you are going to stuff your cash in your mattress, you don&#39;t get shit. This is what a "stimulus" is supposed to do!

It actually drove down spending, according to The Economist. Folks were just spending their money on cars (and more leveraged debt... yay!) rather than other things. Consumer spending was down .8% in a month which is normally up, most everyone agrees this had something to do with it.



Posting a partisan article with little to no rational thought outside of baseless conjecture doesn&#39;t mean something worked.

One other comment... rest assured when the only person they can find touting the program as a success is someone who helped create the program (NEC) then the article has it&#39;s own shares of issues.

[quote name=&#39;Pragmatist&#39; date=&#39;21 August 2009 - 07:08 PM&#39; timestamp=&#39;1250906902&#39; post=&#39;9304&#39;]Like it or not it worked.

[/quote]



Yea, a lot of struggling car dealerships are owed tax debt to be paid out by the government "at some point,

when they figure out what their doing".A successful program to encourage citizens to take on more debt during

a recession.

[quote name=&#39;PoliticalHotwire&#39; date=&#39;21 August 2009 - 10:11 PM&#39; timestamp=&#39;1250907093&#39; post=&#39;9305&#39;]

It actually drove down spending, according to The Economist. Folks were just spending their money on cars (and more leveraged debt... yay!) rather than other things. Consumer spending was down .8% in a month which is normally up, most everyone agrees this had something to do with it.



Posting a partisan article with little to no rational thought outside of baseless conjecture doesn&#39;t mean something worked.

[/quote]



Oh please. A majority of people think that the cash for clunkers programs was a success. Even Fox had to write positive article about Cash for Clunkers, calling it a success.



http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009...nkers-program/

[quote name=&#39;bla bla&#39; date=&#39;21 August 2009 - 10:16 PM&#39; timestamp=&#39;1250907367&#39; post=&#39;9310&#39;]

Yea, a lot of struggling car dealerships are owed tax debt to be paid out by the government "at some point,

when they figure out what their doing".A successful program to encourage citizens to take on more debt during

a recession.

[/quote]



Your concerns about the debt aren&#39;t really bothering me too much because the program is only $ 4 billion dollars, and it did what it needed to do.