Cash for Clunkers math

[ODZKing]

I'm from the government & I'm here to help.....

The person who calculated this bit of information went to high school in Pittsburgh , PA.  He is now & has been a professor at the University of West Virginia in Morgantown, West Virginia for the last forty some years.  I doubt many of us ever looked at the clunker program in such depth.

CLUNKER MATH
Think of it this way: A clunker that travels 12,000 miles a year at 15 mpg uses 800 gallons of gas a year.  A brand new car that travels 12,000 miles a year at 25 mpg uses 480 gallons a year.

So, the average "Cash for Clunkers" transaction will reduce US gasoline consumption by 320 gallons per year.  They claim 700,000 vehicles so that's 224 million gallons saved per year.

That equates to a bit over 5 million barrels of oil. Five million barrels is about 5 hours of US consumption.  More importantly, 5 million barrels of oil at $70 per barrel costs about $350 million dollars.

The "Cash for Clunkers" program cost taxpayers $3 billion dollars.  Therefore, the government paid $3 billion of our tax dollars to save $350 million.  We spent $8.57 for every dollar we saved.

I'm pretty sure they will do a great job with our health care, though...

[Ghoste]

It's too bad people couldn't see through a lot more of that crap ahead of time.  Nearly everything the government does in the name of "helping" you is actaully designed around somehow buying your vote.

[Brads70]

Sad!

[nvrbdn]

it was also a joke at the dealership. i went in with a conversion van and the guy said i will give you 5 grand for a trade i said no thats what the government is giving with my tax dollars, what is the dealership taking off the price? he said we are giving you 5 grand off  the price for your trade.i said that basic math is that you sell the car for 5 grand off the price but uncle sam gives that back, so you get 100% commission, the dealership gets 100% mark up and the tax payer flips the bill. he said sorry, thats the deal. i said i can come back a week after your sale and get the same deal. i was wrong though, a week after the deal was over, they offered 6 grand over book for your trade at the same dealerships.

[elacruze]

Cash for Clunkers was just another wealth redistribution program. It enabled low-income people to upgrade their cars at the expense of the taxpayer.

[BigBlackDodge]

Cash for Clunkers was not about saving fuel, it was about selling cars and trucks to stimulate the economy.

BBD

[68X426]

I'm from the government & I'm here to help.....

Careful man or you will be on the list. 

[chargerboy69]

Cash for Clunkers was not about saving fuel, it was about selling cars and trucks to stimulate the economy.

BBD

Well yes and no.  It was about stimulating the two failing US auto makers we gave taxpayer I mean free government money to, but they also tried to sell it as a eco fuel savings program too.  If the car you chose had good gas mileage, the more money you received from the taxpayer, I mean free money from the federal government.  This is from the administrations favorite website.  I feel dirty now, off to the shower.


"Here's how the plan works: Car owners could get a voucher worth $3,500 if they traded in a vehicle getting 18 miles per gallon or less for one getting at least 22 mpg. The voucher would grow to $4,500 if the new car's mileage was 10 mpg higher than the old vehicle. The mpg figures are listed on the car's window sticker.

Owners of sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks or minivans getting 18 mpg or less could receive a voucher for $3,500 if their new truck or SUV got at least 2 mpg higher than their old vehicle. The voucher would increase to $4,500 if the mileage of the new truck or SUV was at least 5 mpg higher than the older vehicle."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/19/cash-for-clunkers-obama-t_n_217829.html

[Ghoste]

At the end of the day it was about buying votes.

[TK73]

That program ran July 2009 to August 2009.  Who's votes were bought when there were no elections at that time?

[Ghoste]

Is the memory still strong with you?  Do you think there won't be reminders about they saved the economy, the gas supplies, the planet even through this initiative when election time comes in case you have forgotten?
Sorry, but when it comes to crackpot programs like this one it doesn't matter what your political stripe is, the purpose is to buy votes  Pork barrels exist at every level.

[TK73]

Actually no, forgot all about the thing long ago.  This thread reminded me and  I Googled some info.

Isn't "Pork" localized funding to support a politician?  This was a National program...

[Ghoste]

Semantics, I think you quite get my poinbt.

[learical1]

This is skirting dangerously close to talking politics, but during the 2010 elections, did the party that supported the "Cash for Clunkers" mention that they passed this bill?  Did the other party point fingers and say "look what they did"?  I didn't hear it brought up by either side.  Maybe both sides decided not to:

[nvrbdn]

it wasnt supposed to be politic's but to point out the misuse of tax payers money. trying to save industries while we pay for companies to continue to run even though if you dont work for the banks,auto industry or airlines, they didnt care about your job. just your tax money to bail these guys out.

[Ghoste]

Perhaps they all knew what a sensitive topic it could be for either side?  I don't know?  Not using it this time doesn't excuse them in my books, no matter who came up with it I remain skeptical of any government program where they spend tax money without taxpayer input in a stated effort to make our lives better.  I couldn't care less who the party involved is in cases like this because right and left are both eually guilty of this kind of thing.  A government spomsored rebate on any domestic auto purchased would have done more if they were truly concerned with wasting tax money on taxpayers to save the domestic auto industry.
Maybe I'm skeptical to a fault but I have become more an dmore convinced over time that nearly every single decision made by nearly every single politician begins with him (or her) thinking, "what's in this for me".
Defend away but I don't trust politicians and I don't think there is a single meritous thing to be found in the entire cash for clunkers fiasco.

[nvrbdn]

the other stupid part of cash for clunkers was if a family had a piece of crap beat up 8 cyl car that burns a quart of oil each tank full but had bad credit, they couldnt trade in the real clunker. it is still on the road. but the people with good credit were able to trade nice running cars and trucks in that had to be destroyed and couldnt be used to help the poor or any organization that helps people.