Streetsblog Los Angeles

The "cash for clunkers" rebate program, which promises new auto buyers up to $4,500 for fuel-efficiency upgrades as small as 2 miles per gallon, is back to life after burning through $1 billion in taxpayer money.

Minutes
ago, the House approved $2 billion more in auto rebates by transferring
cash that was already headed for loan guarantees at the Department of
Energy — averting the need to add the new spending to the deficit. The
vote was 316-109.

The last-minute race to keep auto-industry benefits alive, which President Obama is strongly backing,
now moves to the Senate. A bipartisan group there is already
threatening to oppose new "clunkers" money unless its fuel-efficiency
requirements are improved and used cars are approved for purchase
rebates.

Right now buyers can get
a $3,500 discount on new cars that get as little as 22 mpg. Small truck
buyers are only required to improve 2 mpg to receive the same rebate,
achieving a combined city and highway efficiency of 20 mpg.

An
early version of the plan would have allowed the rebate value to be
taken in transit coupons, but the DOT said earlier this week that no
such option would be available.

The U.S. DOT may have notified car dealers last night that its watered-down
"cash for clunkers" plan was already out of cash, but that doesn’t mean
the rebates are on their last legs. With the White House vowing to protect the program, Congress soon could have to decide whether to keep the good times rolling for auto companies.

Lawmakers
approved an initial $1 billion in June to offer taxpayer-subsidized
credits of $3,500 and $4,500 to new car and truck buyers, reportedly
prompting dealers to begin assuming backlogs of "clunker" rebates that
were abruptly cashed in when the program formally began this week.

That
rush to capitalize on the "clunkers" deal has led Democrats as well as
many in the media to frame the program as, essentially, a victim of its
own success.

Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), co-author of this
Congress’ landmark climate change bill, said in a statement that he
hopes to spur a million car trade-ins: "Cash for Clunkers may have run
out of cash, but America’s
consumers haven’t run out of clunkers."

Sen. Charles
Schumer (D-NY) echoed Markey’s call to keep the program alive, calling
it "maybe even too successful." He suggested giving the rebates "a
tuneup so that we get the most stimulus, conservation, and efficiency
for the buck."

Indeed, the question this morning may not be whether the program gets more money but if environmentally-minded lawmakers heed the warnings of conservation groups and insist on greater fuel-efficiency improvements in order to qualify car buyers for the deal.

Sens.
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Susan Collins (R-ME), who joined Schumer on
a rival "clunkers" bill that would have set stricter fuel standards,
announced last night that they would only support a stronger version of
the program:

Read more…

In case you don't qualify for the federal Cash-for-Clunkers rebate program, Mark Muller of Max Motors in Butler, Missouri, has an offer you might want to consider: get a free AK-47 with a new truck.

The dealer, whose motto is "God, Guns, Guts and American Pick-Up Trucks," says that sales have doubled since the promotion started and declared his dealership a recession-free zone. He also had some choice social commentary in various interviews:

• "There's a bunch of evil in the world and people need to protect themselves."
• "I'd personally like to have a sporting chance, instead of just becoming a victim."
• "Without guns, we are subjects. With guns, we are citizens."
  
• "The only 911 call I need is chamberering a round."
  

Fortunately you can't just walk out of Max Motors with an AK; Muller provides you with a voucher for $450 redeemable at a local gun dealer, where you still have to go through a background check. Maybe I haven't been to a gun show in a while, but doesn't that seems like a lot of gun for so little coin?

No matter what your moral leanings, you have to admit Muller's plan is ingenious marketing, given that, outside of iPhones, guns are about the only thing selling well in this economy under this presidency. He has even given interviews to Al Jazeera, and Russia Today.

Two of the more entertaining interviews after the jump:

Read more...