(Photo: autos.blackvoices.com)

Were you able to take advantage of Cash For Clunkers when it breezed through town? That’s what it seemed like: a breeze that came to call for but a moment. Once that moment was gone, the government put the entire thing on hold. Things like that happen when you burn through $1 billion in less than two weeks – particularly when the plan was for that money to last four to five months. Now the president feels the auto industry needs the cash advances and short term loans Cash For Clunkers provides to keep them going.

Want to know what’s on the Cash For Clunkers car list?

At the moment, it really doesn’t matter, does it? There’s a great deal of question as to whether the program will be approved by the Senate for another $2 billion, even though opponents of Obama’s original plan like Sen. Dianne Feinstein are now in support of the $2 billion expansion. The president is going to attempt to rally senate support this week, but there is a strong possibility that another $2 billion in taxpayer dollars going toward putting more cars on the road (instead of improving mass transportation) won’t fly.

No guarantees after this Friday

In a recent Los Angeles Times story at http://www.latimes.com/classified/automotive/highway1/la-hy-auto-sales4-2009aug04,0,4883093.story, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was quoted as saying that Cash For Clunkers would be guaranteed through the weekend of August 8-9, but only a positive vote in the Senate would extend the program beyond that.

“If the Senate hasn’t acted by this Friday, I would not give people the same assurances of going into a dealership this weekend,” Gibbs said.

Yet there are those who are positive that the Senate will pass the additional funding. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said to MSNBC, “We’re encouraging senators to listen to their car dealers and the people they represent. If they do that, it will pass the Senate.”

Oh really? Listen to the people?

And what is it you think they’re going to ask for? Why, indefinite extension of the program – that’s what. People love free money, yet the catch here is that it’s taxpayer money. So it isn’t free money, is it? Let’s go crazy, folks! That’ll save this economy – fiscal irresponsibility.

And Chrysler was doubling the discounts

Chris Woodyard writes in his “Drive On” column for the USA Today that while Chrysler had been matching the government’s $4,500 Cash For Clunkers car list incentive, that program is headed for the station. It was simply too effective.

Yet it differed from the Cash For Clunkers car list program in that you didn’t even need to trade in a car to get Chrysler’s $4,500 incentive. “It cut through the clutter,” said spokeswoman Kathy Graham. And it caused Chrysler vehicles to fly off the lots, including the PT Cruiser, whose sales beat last years at this time by more than 24 percent.

Here’s Chrysler’s new deal

The double incentive will remain in effect for the PT Cruiser and bigger SUVs and trucks. However, the matching will no longer apply to “some of the bigger clunker incentive replacements,” says Graham.

In those cases, Chrysler will provide  $3,500 for a Dodge Avenger or Chrysler Sebring sedan. It will put up $3,000 for Dodge Nitro SUVs and Jeep Liberty. The Dodge Caliber will net $2,500 in incentive discounts. Jeep Wrangler, Dodge Sprinter, Dodge Challenger and SRT vehicles were never part of Chrysler’s incentive program.

Cash For Clunkers? That money should be going to healthcare!

That’s right. One shot was enough. If more taxpayer money is going to be thrown around, it should be thrown at universal healthcare. People cannot be trusted to escape from their own greed; let’s not make it an official mandate by making the Cash For Clunkers car list program a perpetual monument to our love of debt. If short term loans or cash advances can help now and again with a down payment, that’s fine. Apply below!

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Sen. McCain has already made it known that he didn’t approve of the original $1 billion allotted for the Cash For Clunkers bill, so he definitely doesn’t approve of funneling $2 billion more into it. He will do all he can short of a filibuster (the GOP can’t pull that off since the Democrats have a super majority) to stop the additional funding. Good luck, John. By running out of money so quickly, it could be argued that Cash For Clunkers has been an overwhelming success. That is, the Obama administration got what they wanted in less than two weeks, when they had allotted several months to get thousands of gas-guzzling cars off the road. Now, if I can convince you to try no fax payday loans and short term loans when your budget needs a bridge to payday – and do it in that little time – this little venture here would be equally successful.

The auto industry definitely needed a boost

And cornerstones of the American economy (like Ford Motors) got it in July, largely thanks to the Cash For Clunkers bill. I don’t care how long it took Cash For Clunkers to achieve it’s goal… it was successful. And I now believe that it shouldn’t be extended, because too many taxpayers will come to depend on such a program over time. I like the description that it was supposed to “prime the pump” for automotive industry sales, not become a permanent fixture. Whether people are going to truly be able to afford the Cash For Clunkers bill vehicles they’ve obtained is another matter.

But did Cash For Clunkers help the Obamacare movement?

And by Obamacare, know that I’m referring to the current effort to reform the healthcare system. Clearly, the amount of time and money that would be involved in making the Cash For Clunkers bill program a success was underestimated. That has led to scores of conservative commentators saying that if they miss the cost estimate on something like Cash For Clunkers, just imagine was the Obama administration will do with health care reform.

An interesting blog post by Robert George on the NBC Bay Area Web site points out the above alternative view of the Cash For Clunkers goings on. What if the costs for universal health care are being underestimated? We know that Americans were quick to lap up the Cash For Clunkers deal. If we’re talking taking care for oneself, would that be even more in demand? Apply for no fax payday loans and short term loans while you think about it.

Not so much

Americans show every day just how much they care about their vehicles versus their own bodies. Constant washing and maintenance, pushing their credit to the limit, all part of that love affair with the automobile. Yet the majority of people in this country don’t take proper care of themselves. Smoking, overeating, lack of exercise, damaging the environment and having it come back to them in a big way with a rise in skin cancer due to ozone holes… and that’s just the beginning.

But George spins this as fiscal irresponsibility. It’s a common argument against Obama’s health care plan, and the fact that Cash For Clunkers ran out of money as quickly as it did won’t help dispel that notion. $1 trillion over 10 years for Obamacare? Seems unlikely, but whatever the case, we must be willing to pay for the health of our population. Trim the fat from anywhere; I’d suggest obsolete defense contracts that are left on the books merely because they keep people close to Republican congressmen and women employed.

It won’t make Obama’s battle any easier

If Obamacare is going to make it as it needs to, Democrats are going to have to remain unified behind the notion that there will be areas to cut. There have to be, considering how many taxpayers we have. That money has to be going somewhere, and if we can cut out the pork projects, I’m sure there’s enough money to make universal healthcare a reality.

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Is your vehicle one of the 78 the EPA made ineligible? (Photo: rundeautochat.wordpress.com)

If you’re the owner of one of the cars on the following Cash For Clunkers list, I’m sorry. You’re simply out of luck if you had planned to take advantage of the up to $4,500 voucher good toward the purchase of a new, more fuel-efficient car or truck. Perhaps now you’ll be needing payday loans with no faxing or other short term loans in order to make the down payment on a new car. If so, Personal Money Market may be able to help you.

USA TODAY reports that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) made these changes behind the scenes, just before the Cash For Clunkers program 2009 was about to begin. They have expressed no remorse over any difficulty they may have caused consumers. In fact, they have justified their last second changes by saying that they were operating under a deadline where the first day of the program for consumers was their “drop dead” date.

By way of review

For those of you who don’t know, Cash For Clunkers is a government program that enables consumers to trade in cars that are not fuel efficient (18 mpg or less combined city and highway driving) and are less than 25 years old. Acceptable trade-ins next consumers $3,500 or $4,500 for a new vehicle that gets at least 10 mpg more than their trade-in car or truck.

Here’s the hit list

There are more than 70 different cars that have fallen by the wayside when it comes to the Cash For Clunkers list. Thanks, EPA! I’ll separate the vehicles here by year for your convenience:

1987 Vehicles

Alfa Romeo GTV
Alfa Romeo Milano
BMW 5 Series
Chevrolet S10 Blazer 2WD
Dodge Caravan/Grand Caravan/Ram Van 2WD
Dodge Shadow
Ford Aerostar Van
Ford LTD Crown Victoria
Ford LTD Crown Victoria Wagon
GMC S15 Jimmy 2WD
Lincoln Continental
Lincoln Mark VII
Lincoln Town Car
Mercury Grand Marquis
Mercury Grand Marquis Wagon
Plymouth Sundance
Plymouth Voyager/Grand Voyager 2WD
Porsche 944
Toyota Truck 4WD

1988 Vehicles

Mazda 929
Peugeot 505 Sedan
Toyota 4Runner 4WD

1989 Vehicles

Mazda 929
Peugeot 505 Sedan
Porsche 911 Carrera

1990 Vehicles

Audi 80 Quattro
Dodge Caravan/Grand Caravan/Ram Van 2WD
Plymouth Voyager/Grand Voyager 2WD
Saab 9000
Toyota 1-Ton Truck 2WD
Toyota Truck 2WD

1991 Vehicles

Audi 80 Quattro
Dodge Caravan/Grand Caravan 2WD
Dodge Ram 50 Pickup 2WD
Lexus ES 250
Mitsubishi Truck 2WD
Plymouth Voyager/Grand Voyager 2WD
Toyota Camry
Toyota Camry Wagon

1992 Vehicles

Acura NSX
Dodge Caravan/Grand Caravan 2WD
Dodge Ram 50 Pickup 2WD
Jeep Cherokee 4WD
Jeep Comanche Pickup 4WD
Mitsubishi Truck 2WD
Plymouth Voyager/Grand Voyager 2WD
Saab 900

1993 Vehicles

Dodge Ram 50 Pickup 2WD
Dodge Stealth
Jeep Comanche Pickup 2WD
Mitsubishi 3000 GT
Mitsubishi Truck 2WD
Toyota Camry
Toyota Camry Wagon

1994 Vehicles

Mazda B2300/B3000/B4000 Pickup 2WD
Mazda MPV
Mitsubishi Diamante Wagon
Volkswagen Corrado SLC

1995 Vehicles

Kia Sportage 2WD
Mazda MPV
Toyota Tacoma 2WD

1996 Vehicles

Jeep Cherokee 2WD
Nissan Truck 2WD
Toyota Supra
Volkswagen Jetta GLX

1997 Vehicles

Chrysler Concorde
Chrysler New Yorker/LHS
Dodge Intrepid
Eagle Vision
Kia Sportage 4WD
Mercedes-Benz C36 AMG
Nissan Truck 2WD
Toyota Supra
Toyota T100 2WD
Volkswagen Jetta GLX

Is your car on the list?

If so, and you need payday loans with no faxing or short term loans to make up the difference, apply here for a loan and see if we can serve your needs!

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