Ford Motor — thanks to clunkers — enjoyed its first year-over-year sales gain in almost two years. Gas-guzzlers are being retired. People are juiced, minus some members of Republican leadership who would rather shoot themselves in the foot than give even faint praise to a Democratic initiative. The country is not served by knee-jerk Republican (or Democratic) opposition to anything put forward by the other party.
Republicans, who approved billions of dollars in spending for an unnecessary war of choice in Iraq, balk at putting any more money into the clunkers pot. Enthusiastic car buyers raced through the $1B in clunker cash that was originally allocated by the House. Congress wants another $2B for the program.
That has led to gripes from Republican leaders. Jon Kyl, the Senate’s No. 2 Republican is concerned about Uncle Sam giving $4,500 to somebody who was already going to buy a car. His statement defies reality. Note to the Arizona Republican: nobody was buying a car during the recession. Clunkers changed that.
The Wall Street Journal reports today that July auto sales were the highest in 11 months because of clunkers. And then there is Mitch McConnell, leader of the Republicans, who drearily spins the success of clunkers into a negative. To the Kentucky Republican, it’s a sign that Obama had no clue about how popular cash for clunkers would be.
"We were told this program would last for several months. As it turned out, it ran out of money in a week," said McConnell who wants to develop an option to clunkers. Of course, McConnell currently doesn't have an option.
The original $1B number was plucked out of thin air. Nobody knew if hard-hit consumers would open their wallets after months of recession. They did. The proof is in the pudding. Cash for clunkers is a PR success story.
