It’s getting grim: Your daily cash for clunkers update

Автор: RaymondLilly on суббота, 8 августа 2009 г. / Ярлыки: ,

clunkers? Or collectibles? doesn't matter - Congress wants to send them all to the scrap heap

We pretty much knew the answer to yesterday’s question of whether Congress will pay attention to the grassroots opposition to cash for clunkers. Of course they won’t, and of course they’ll steamroll this legislation right through any roadblocks on the way.

* Reading today’s news reports from the Detroit Free Press, Canada’s Globe and Mail and Edmunds AutoObserver, it appears the cash for clunkers legislation will indeed be separated from the Waxman energy bill - either in a standalone piece of legislation called the Drive America Forward Act or as part of the emergency spending bill, as reported earlier - and skip the House entirely, going straight for the Senate (if attached to the emergency spending bill). Perhaps the most frustrating thing about recent events is that we haven’t seen any legislation officially introduced by Congress since they announced the compromises with Barack Obama last week; instead, they’re trying to shuffle it around in a game of politics to get it enacted as fast as possible to please their buddies in the auto industry, thus disallowing any real chance for the American public to understand and comment on it.

* Yet not all is lost. TTAC, now firmly opposed to cash for clunkers, spotlighted Dianne Feinstein’s growing opposition to c4c, but keep in mind that she co-sponsored the cash for clunkers legislation that received a walloping defeat earlier this year. The Miami Herald, in their story on cash for clunkers, seems to be the first in recent memory to present the old car hobbyists’ point of view by quoting our friend Stuart Gosswein from SEMA. And we can now count the Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association among the opposition: MEMA, like the ASA, would like to see a repair option inserted into the legislation.

UPDATE (14.May 2009): The ARA released another statement today on cash for clunkers warning that any such legislation could potentially open up a loophole in which the public could gain access to buy back the “clunkers” bought by the program through salvage auctions that allow the general public to bid in 35 states. This is the first we’ve heard of such a loophole, and find the argument kinda thin, but if such a loophole exists, we think it would be a good thing for individuals in the collector car hobby, allowing them to rescue useable cars and parts from the crusher, just as California’s system currently does. Though by no means would we throw our support behind cash for clunkers on the basis of such a loophole. Instead, it looks like the ARA just wants to shore up their industry’s business.

Of course, Congress could make both us and the ARA happy by shelving this cash for clunkers legislation entirely and allowing American vehicles to proceed naturally through their lifecycles.



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