In general, the government program, Cash for Clunkers, has been a mess.
As soon as it got off the ground, the program was suspended. Then hours later it was resurrected.
Car dealers aren't getting reimbursed in a timely manner, or at all.
Simply put, the government couldn't handle this relatively small program.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration is developing plans to wind down the popular Cash for Clunkers program and could announce by Friday when the incentives will no longer be available.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Wednesday the department would announce within 48 hours how it intends to discontinue the program that offers car buyers rebates of $3,500 or $4,500 for trading in older vehicles for new, more fuel-efficient models. Department officials met with car dealer trade groups on Wednesday to discuss how the program will eventually end and respond to complaints over a backlog of rebate payments to dealers.
Through early Wednesday, auto dealers have made deals worth $1.81 billion and are on pace to exhaust the program's $3 billion in funds in early September. The incentives have generated more than 435,000 vehicle sales but dealers want a clear plan on when the rebates will no longer be available so they don't end up on the hook for any of the incentives.
"We want to make sure that dealers know when we're getting close" to running out of the money that was allocated for the program, LaHood told reporters. LaHood said he recognized that "dealers are frustrated. They're going to get their money."
On Thursday, General Motors Co. said it would begin providing cash advances to its dealers to help cover any cash shortfalls related to the program. The automaker said it will provide the advances for up to 30 days for dealers who have already completed a sale and they will be available as long as the program remains in effect.
So Government Motors is bailing out the dealerships?
...Dealers have complained of delays in getting their reimbursements approved, causing a cash crunch at their dealerships. Dealers typically borrow money to put new cars on their lots and must repay those loans within a few days of a sale.
...The government's online reimbursement system was flooded with reimbursement requests shortly after the program began in late July, overwhelming the computer system and staff set up to process the deals. That led to big delays for dealers trying to file the paperwork they needed to get paid back for the rebates.
LaHood said some of the submitted paperwork has been incomplete or inaccurate, leading to delays. He acknowledged the Transportation Department did not have enough people to process the paperwork but said DOT was ramping up staff.
DOT said earlier this week it was tripling its work force to handle the rebates and expected to have 1,100 workers dealing with the paperwork by the end of the week.
Question: How in the world can we trust the governmente to successfully and smoothly manage health care?
YES WE CAN?
Simply put, no we can't.
4 comments:
The government cannot even write a simple check. Oh, wait a minute; a government official must visit every dealer and validate each clunker.
These jokers don't have a clue as to the scale of this country and what is required to implement their ivory tower plans. Clueless. And, therefore, dangerous.
I am reminded of the mice who came up with a plan to put a bell on the cat that was eating them.
That way they would be able to hear the cat and get away.
They just could not figure out how to implement said plan.
To date, members of the Obama administration have shown an arrogance that causes them to overestimate their ability to accomplish goals and a naivete that causes them to underestimate the difficulty in accomplishing them.
Well, the government seems have done their best, just as the Inside Line says: As a sales motivator, Cash for Clunkers has certainly been good for stimulating car sales. But the government can only do so much to help.
Although the program would end before we expected, and only run for a couple of weeks, it do contribute to the car industry, General Motors is enjoying a recent sales uptick and Chrysler had announced it would increase its production.
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