What is it about consequences that the liberal media and government simply cannot grasp?
CNN "Newsroom" admitted Aug. 27 that new car prices are "expected" to go up as a result of the government Cash for Clunkers giveaway.
Heidi Collins told viewers, "The success of the Cash for Clunkers program may be pushing new car prices higher. Dealerships are expected to have lower inventory over the next few months, meaning higher prices for consumers. Around 700,000 people took advantage of the Cash for Clunkers program."
Collins' use of the word "success" to describe the program was consistent with the media's advocacy of the program. All three broadcast networks called it a "victim of its own success," after the initial $1 billion in funding ran out after just a week - instead of the 14 weeks projected.
Such positive reporting by the media mostly ignored the potential for price increases after Cash for Clunkers ended. Jeremy Anwyl, CEO of Edmunds.com, the car rating Web site, predicted in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that prices would rise.
"There is also an ironic unintended consequence. Car companies have cut the number of vehicles coming off their assembly lines in response to the recession, which is leading to spot shortages. This is particularly the case for fuel-efficient models the program was suppose to encourage consumers to buy. As prices for these autos rise, buyers will inevitably use their cash-for-clunker dollars to buy less-efficient models and thus crush one of the touted environmental benefits of the program," Anwyl said. (Emphasis added)
—Julia A. Seymour is an assistant editor for the Business & Media Institute.
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C4C was canceled not for lack of money...
August 27, 2009 - 10:27 ET by R D Helm...as the federal government could have easily confiscated (as in stolen) any amount it wanted in order to continue it.
It was canceled because it showed the world just how grossly incompetent government actually is.
Government generally hires only the stupid and the illiterate. This was proven when they couldn't even run the Mustang Ranch whorehouse out in Nevada.
I was proven yet again when they couln't even run Cash for Clunkers, as the paperwork for each deal amounted to 69 pages of jibberish.
Funny how most parents keep packing off the most precious things in their lives each year to be "educated" by this same stupid and illiterate government.
No wonder this country is swirling in the bottom of the loo.
-Dave
Even when the government tries to kiss you, it is just a prelude to a good screwing. -Neal Boortz
C4C was a failure on a
August 27, 2009 - 11:20 ET by Gat New YorkC4C was a failure on a number of levels.
There was no defined business objective. Had a public company run something like this with the same results the company would be in serious financial and customer service trouble. C4C was a reckless waste of time and money.
The business objective
August 27, 2009 - 11:31 ET by WhoIsJohnGaltwas a giveaway to the UAW, but even that backfired when people were not buying Detroit cars, but Korean/Japanese cars.
If it was "successful", why stop it? Why not just keep it going?
In reality, all it did wasforce me and you to subsidize new car purchases for other people. Thanks, Obama...that's exactly what I want my government to do with MY MONEY!
R D Helm, It seems to me
August 27, 2009 - 12:59 ET by hydrodynDMR D Helm,
It seems to me that one major role of the government is to provide employment for those who would otherwise be unemployable.
So I tend to agree with your post, however, I have no idea what you mean by:
Are you suggesting that colleges and universities are government run entities? Or am I just being dense and missing something?
wait
August 27, 2009 - 10:13 ET by candanceI specifically remember being promised by libs that C4C would not raise prices. And now we find out the rebate is taxable income.
Waiting for the part where libs explain how this is still good for the economy.
I bought a CPO Acura
August 27, 2009 - 10:14 ET by pwozI bought a CPO Acura instead of using C4C. The price of used inventories are going to rise because those still-running clunkers (who the poor depend on because they can't afford new cars!) are no longer on the market.
Hope and change, indeed!
welfare for upper income
August 27, 2009 - 10:17 ET by RayRayso if a person can afford to buy new cars, Obama gave them free money. But if a person can only afford buying used cars, they were on their own.
The free money could also be used to buy foreign cars, so it didn't necessarily help only the US car industry. Plus, some got the free money to buy trucks and SUVs, so it was't really about only buying fuel efficient vehicles.
This reminds me about how one of the first actions of the Obama gang was to approve big bonuses for the Wall St execs who fouled everything up in the first place. All smoke are mirrors.
Yawn, CNN
August 27, 2009 - 10:20 ET by 10ksnookerAnd with the projections of the economy saying the recession could last as long as five years, according to the fed, people are going to standing in line for new cars, right?
Does this make sense to anyone?
I say the more likely thing is car sales fall off a cliff in September.
Go ahead, raise prices.
I thought the recession was
August 27, 2009 - 10:47 ET by ckc1227I thought the recession was over?
Agreed
August 27, 2009 - 11:15 ET by BlondeC4C sucked all of the present demand, as well as the immediate future demand, right out of the market place.
So, prices will spike, sales will negatively spike, the recession will continue, and I'd imagine Obama will throw another 20 Billion or so at Government Motors.
Change you can believe in. Check.
I hope he fails, too.
Who'd a thunk there would be a shortage of windows.
August 27, 2009 - 10:26 ET by JWFThe prevailing economic theory in washington d.c. is the broken window economic theory.
We took 600,000 cars off the road. Demand has not changed. Supply has. What is the name of that thing where too many dollars are chasing after too few goods?
Sincerely,
a Veteran of a 1000 psychic wars.
I tried 'splainin' the broken window theory to a co-worker...
August 27, 2009 - 11:36 ET by WhoIsJohnGaltIt went right over his head, because he doesn't understand how the invisible hand of the market keeps supplies in line with demand, or eventually corrects any short-term misalignment. He doesn't believe in the market, so there's no hope for his understanding anything that flows from it.
"Heidi Collins told
August 27, 2009 - 10:45 ET by ckc1227"Heidi Collins told viewers, "The success of the Cash for Clunkers
program may be pushing new car prices higher. Dealerships are expected
to have lower inventory over the next few months, meaning higher prices
for consumers."
It's also going to push used car prices higher for the same reason because some genius thought it would be a good idea to destroy perfectly fine trade-ins that they paid entirely too much for to boot.
It's the democrat way...helping the poor for 60 years now.
Reality
August 27, 2009 - 11:38 ET by UtherpendI have never been able to afford to buy a new car so the dealers are simply cutting thier own throats by raising their prices. I simply don't have any sympathy for a business that puts itself out of business then blames everyone for their problems but the true cause.
"For a people who are free, and who mean to remain so, a well-organized and armed militia is their best security."
another failed government program?
August 27, 2009 - 11:45 ET by katainkentI'm shocked I tell you. Shocked.
___________________________________________
"Maybe you're better off not having the surgery, but taking the painkiller" Barack Obama (Dr. In Chief)
This is just the beginning
August 27, 2009 - 11:45 ET by pcantidoteThis is just the beginning of the unintended consequences. The used car market that the poor rely on is going to spike due to the destruction of so many operable used cars, new car sales are going to plummet over the next few years as years of demand was just shifted into a 2 week period, car reposessions are going to spike as people driving old clunkers are now into car payments they cannot afford. Well done liberals.
Enforce Term Limits if They Won't: Vote Against ALL Incumbents in 2010.
a minor addition
August 28, 2009 - 06:32 ET by AgnosticThe reduction in donated cars to charitable organizations
A person may be won over with logic and reason but the masses must be bought with spectacle and platitudes. - 2008 Elections
Yes, I've heard this spin
August 27, 2009 - 11:58 ET by fitzfongYes, I've heard this spin from AP Radio News, as well. Their definition of "success" amounts not to how profitable or "stimulating" a program is, but to how many customers are drawn to the handout creating artificial market demand. By that logic, unemployment is hugely successful.
"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered." -George Best
What happens this time next
August 27, 2009 - 13:07 ET by Jack BauerWhat happens this time next year?
All those lower income folks, persuaded by the government to take out further debt to buy a new vehicle with the C4C reabte, will be losing their vehicles to the repo man.
Oh yeah -- Barney Frank and his minnions will be blaming THE EVIL BANKS for their "predatory" lending.
Being in Congress means never having to say you're sorry.
C4C
August 27, 2009 - 15:51 ET by VengeanceIsMineTime to use one of my favorite quotes “If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there'd be a shortage of sand” - Milton Freidman
"You cannot spend your way out of recession or borrow your way out of debt." Daniel Hannan
August 27, 2009 - 17:19 ET by jessieHNot to worry. With obama in office, no one will have a job to buy a car. If nobody can buy one, the price will fall.
Let this be a major lesson
August 27, 2009 - 19:46 ET by deerjerkydaveLet this be a major lesson as to why TUITION prices continually go up and why HEALTH CARE prices continually go up.
The more government participates in a market the higher they drive up the prices. The law of unintended consequences strikes the liberal ideology again!