Wall Street Journal Criticises Cash for Clunkers Program

This 3 billion dollar program that ran triple over budget and was abruptly abandoned, is a good poster child for those who regard current stimulus concepts socialistic

The US government takes money away from American citizens who earned it, and gives it for free to other citizens who want to buy a new car

clipped from online.wsj.com All Clunkered Out The $3 billion plan is being hailed in Washington as a great success because so many Americans sought to get a $3,500 to $4,500 check financed by other taxpayers in return for trading in their old car. it's hardly miraculous that some Americans would be willing to apply for "free" money to do what they probably would have done eventually anyway. the program has proven to be an administrative fiasco, as the central planners at Transportation had to scramble to borrow workers from the likes of the Federal Aviation Administration to process claims. The idea that a temporary subsidy program will launch the auto industry onto some new, higher sales and production plane defies logic. More likely, the program will merely have concentrated sales over a shorter period, as buyers either postponed purchases once they learned the program was in the works, or accelerated them to meet the subsidy deadline.