No cash for my clunker
I know the liberal ‘party line’ is that cash for clunkers was a wild success for the Obama stimulus package, rapidly getting cash into the economy and particularly in a stressed out sector, the auto industry.
Well I’ve got a clunker from ’96. Naturally I thought “I wanna get me some of that cash!” No such luck. In ’96 I bought the most fuel economical 4-door sedan I could get, a Mazda manual transmission that used to get me about 36 mpg (now maybe about 30). I discovered there was a bottom threshold on the gas mileage and my car didn’t qualify.
So being a conscientious environmentalist, buying a fuel sensible vehicle really just makes me a cash-cow chump who must pay for my good behavior by paying for self-absorbed assholes who chose gas guzzlers back in the day.
Seriously, this really blows.
Forget giving cash to jackasses, fuck the carrot, what we need is the stick – let’s slam them with higher gasoline taxes – you’ll see clunker SUVs disappear off the roads far faster than this silly rebate program. And if the government really wants to shower cash on us, just give us some god damned $5K gift certificates we can spend on whatever we want. Or better, just cut my taxes by $5K, I promise I’ll spend it on something.
Stumble it!
Tags: cash for clunkers, gas mileage, mazda
August 25th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Virtue is its own reward.
August 26th, 2009 at 7:45 am
no punches pulled, no remorse, no surrender. Hear, Hear Greenboy. I have a clunker and an old relic that gets better than 45 a gallon. I need the damn truck 5 times a month and can’t figure out how to replace it until I get an electric.
But with Governor Granholm espousing the same Detroit garbage about gas, it’s not likely to be a US made vehicle. Our auto industry doesn’t understand anything except fins and gallons per mile.
Do you get the idea that no matter what, they are going to continue to gas it up even as we burn the last drop? They have no solution but talk, and the talk is so bad it is worse than cheap. Good luck Michigan, for you are again, leaderless. Wonder what country my next vehicle will be made in?
August 26th, 2009 at 8:24 am
Amen oldtree. We should have let Detroit wither on the vine and given their loans and bailout money to Tesla or some new auto startups.
August 26th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
“Our auto industry doesn’t understand anything except fins and gallons per mile.”
I can likely name an American branded car that gets equal or better mileage than its imported counterpart, with the possible exception of the Prius. The Malibu and Fusion both beat the Accord and Camry in mileage. The Focus and Cobalt now get better or equal to the Civic and Corolla and on and on. The larger vehicles, like the Chevy Traverse and even pick up trucks kill similar Hondas, Toyotas and Mazdas on mileage.
The commonly held prejudices that people (especially us liberals) hold against the American car companies (and their workers) is getting really old. Its time to go a little more research.
Oh and Tesla? How many jobs will that company provide a few hundred? Please.
August 26th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
BTW-
My Saturn with 138 k miles didn’t qualify either, for the same reason.
August 27th, 2009 at 8:05 am
Test-drove the Fusion, nice car, bit too big for my tastes. Agree that the Prius is the ‘best in class’ but there are American alternatives.
Regarding Tesla – put a few billion in any company and you’ll get somewhat more than a ‘few hundred’ jobs.
August 29th, 2009 at 7:16 am
I have a VW Beetle- 30 mpg — 1998 piece of junk. So I have to drive around in a washing machine while the assholes from in the next lane whiz by in their new Range Rovers upgraded from the one they bought three years ago? Life certainly is mysterious as well as statistically unfair. Calling this program a success fulfills the bipartisan myth, but accepting it as truth simply continues the stupidity that got us into the situation to begin with.
September 3rd, 2009 at 3:22 pm
I have a 23 year old Honda CRX HF with a then combined mileage of 50 MPG – no cash for me either….Still gets great mileage but not as reliable any more… Would have considered a Ford…
September 4th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Malibu and Cobalt beat the Hondas and Toyotas on mileage? Go buy one. Figure in the cost of leaking intake manifolds, crap transmissions, you name it. Enjoy your Chevrolet. I’ll be getting 41 mpg in my Civic, for like 300k or so. Cheerio!
September 14th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
So now the ‘Cash for Clunkers’ program has ended, I think the auto industry will have a turbulent few months. The Australian stimulus is set to continue until Dec