skidmark

Cliff

Large suv's generally hold more people than toyota corollas. That is why the death rate per 100,000 miles is bogus. Heavy cars always win in head on with light cars.

VTcharter

...and yet, rarely do I see a "Large SUV" with more than 2 or 3 people in it!!

DYNASTY HVY

What constitutes a clunker ?
If you can't buy a new car outright why would anyone want to take on more debt in this economy ?
And why does this look like another bailout for the car mfg and what happens to these so-called clunkers?
I see Ally gave her .02 so I just gave mine .


Fred

jungle

Why destroy a perfectly good vehicle in order to take on more debt? We have to ask ourselves what is good for the country and the individual. Why is confiscating money from one group to fund or encourage an increase in debt for another group a good thing? Why is destruction of a functional asset to generate more debt a good thing?

Could it be that some are trying to buy votes? Could it be that a tax levied unfairly or a rebate given unfairly distort the economy? Could it be that some seek profit in distortion and that "fair" is a word corrupted in meaning to gain power?

DYNASTY HVY

I,m beginning to think that this is all by design and that certain people want this country to be so far in debt that it might just collapse.
How much more are we going to spend and what happens when the chickens come home to roost ?
Apologies for the thread drift but damnit this spending is reckless.

Fred

ufgatorpilot

Thanks for pointing this out. Everyone else in this string is talking about this program as if it's about the environment. It's not.

"It's another billion-dollar bailout for the auto industry wrapped in the politically palatable guise of green stimulus."

What a ridiculous waste of taxpayer dollars.

Zapata

No, it isn't bogus. On average, owners of large SUV's don't carry any more passengers than a sedan.

SUV's are still a statistical deathtrap. Cars are much safer.

jungle

Red Herring alert. Crash tests are based on a given vehicle's performance against a fixed barrier. Pit a 6,000 pound vehicle against a 2,000 pound vehicle and any grade schooler knows the outcome.

It really isn't about crash tests, after all, 100,000 pound eighteen wheelers are roaming the road too. The real death trap is debt and a false sense that someone else will pay it for you.

GunshipGuy

Don't you get it? The politicians love their power and will do anything to stay in office, so they dole out [EDIT: FUTURE] tax payer money as if it were theirs to those that will get them re-elected claiming they are "giving" this or that to us and "helping" the poor tax payer (because he can't be expected to make it on his own, right?).

So when D.C. was pressuring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to give more loans to those who couldn't afford it, who did they point the finger at? Why those darn "predatory lenders." They forced people to take those loans they couldn't afford. And now the fed wants you to buy more of their cars so they've come up with this plan. I guess the money making machine is working just fine--just print more.

Since the gov't is running a car company now, and is also in the used car business ("I can't sell these things...just demolish them."), they won't have anyone to point the finger at this time for pushing some of these buyers who should stay with their clunker for a while longer into buying a car they can't afford. That's OK, it's just $1 or $3 BILLION...chump change these days.

I don't hold anything against USMCFLYR for taking advantage of this situation. If they're going to throw money away then someone who actually pays some taxes in this country might as well benefit.

ufgatorpilot

A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you are talking about real money.