Is This What Passes for Economic “Success” in the Obama Administration?

Conn Carroll / August 03, 2009

Celebrating the fact that his administration has blown through $1 billion in deficit spending on the “Cash for Clunkers” program in just one week, President Barack Obama said Friday: “I’m happy to report that it has succeeded well beyond our expectations and all expectations.” And just what exactly has the “cash for clunkers” program succeeded at?

Cash for Clunkers Has Not Helped the Environment: Thanks to the inclusion of SUVs and small trucks in the program, you could, in theory, trade in a Hummer that got 14 mpg to get $3,500 for a brand new 18 mpg SUV. Not exactly a leap forward for the environment. Worse still, that Hummer and all the other clunkers then get shredded– thus destroying 200,000+ cars before their full use. Once you factor in all the pollution from manufacturing new cars to replace the prematurely shredded cars, it is unlikely you’ll see any net reduction in carbon. (more…)