Senate Reaches Cash-for-Clunkers Deal

(AP)  The Senate reached a deal on saving the dwindling "cash for clunkers" program late Wednesday, agreeing to vote on a plan that would add $2 billion to the popular rebate program and give car shoppers until Labor Day to trade in their gas-guzzlers for a new ride.

Following lengthy negotiations, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Democrats and Republicans had agreed to vote on the plan Thursday, along with a series of potential changes to the bill, which was passed by the House last week. Reid has said Democrats have enough votes to approve the measure and reject any changes that would cause an interruption in the rebates of up to $4,500.

Reid said the agreement "accomplishes what we need to accomplish."

Late Wednesday, it was not clear that any of the proposed amendments stood a chance of passing. Some of them included placing an income limit on those benefiting from the vouchers and requiring the government to sell off its stakes in General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC.

Any Senate changes to the bill would require another vote in the House, something that couldn't take place until the House returns in September from a monthlong recess.

The government said Wednesday that more than $775 million of the $1 billion fund had been spent, accounting for nearly 185,000 new vehicles sold. President Barack Obama has said the program would go broke by Friday if not replenished by Congress.

Administration officials have estimated the additional $2 billion could fund another 500,000 vehicle sales and last into Labor Day.

That's the same day the Senate was to follow the House into the August recess, a looming break that Senate leaders often use to prod their colleagues past standoffs.

"We all acknowledge there's a significant majority that want to move forward with this legislation," Reid, D-Nev., said earlier in the day, adding that he has the votes to approve the House-passed version as is.

His Republican counterpart, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, concurred that the matter would be settled soon. And objectors conceded they do not have the votes to force all of the changes they want, or to block the House version of the bill.

"My guess is, at the end of the day, it will pass," said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., who called it an example of "Congress choosing winners and losers among industries."

The program offers car buyers rebates of between $3,500 and $4,500 for trading in their gas-guzzlers for new, higher-mileage models.

The new funding would triple the cost of $1 billion rebate program and give as many as a half-million more Americans the chance to grab the new car incentives through September.

Car companies have credited the clunkers program with driving up sales in late July. Most consumers are buying smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles under the program, according to a list of the top-10 selling cars released Wednesday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Among manufacturers, General Motors Co. had the largest share, accounting for 18.7 percent of new sales, followed by Toyota Motor Corp. with 17.9 percent. Ford Motor Co. was third with 16 percent of the sales. Detroit automakers represented 45.3 percent of the total sales while Japan's Toyota, Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. accounted for 36.5 percent.

The Toyota Corolla is the top-selling vehicle on the list, followed by the Ford Focus, Honda Civic, Toyota Prius and the Toyota Camry. There is one SUV on the list, the Ford Escape, which also comes in a hybrid model that can get up to 32 miles per gallon. Six of the top-10 selling vehicles are built by foreign manufacturers, but most are built in North America.

Among states, Michigan has taken most advantage of the program, requesting more than $44 million in vehicle vouchers. California dealers had requested nearly $40 million in vouchers, and Ohio had sought nearly $38 million.

Senate passage would send the legislation to the White House for Obama's signature and assure consumers there will be no interruption in the program that has led to packed car dealerships nationwide.

The deals are aimed at boosting auto sales, which have been at their lowest levels in two decades.

[jwhenry1008]

You can either Lease or buy a new car to use the cash for clunkers program. It has to be new vehicles and not used ones.

Henry
Blogger
www.cashforclunkersfacts.info
http://www.cashforclunkersfacts.info

[zonkzilla]

"This isn't a fight between Republican and democrats it's a fight for what is right, it is not right to burden our future with bills our children can't pay."

I would just bet that is the exact same thing you said when the Republican Bush was saying he was going to war with Iraq.
LOL

[zonkzilla]

The oil companies and their clueless right wing supporters hate this program and they tried to stop it by using their Republican puppets in Congress.
Congress could increase gas taxes by .15 a gallon, make the gas tax funded clunker program permanent expanding it to include an amount for people replacing their gas guzzlers with high mileage newer used cars, and cut our gasoline consumption by at least 40% in 4 years. Local governments would get a big increase in property taxes because they are higher on newer cars and they could use that money to provide services.
The hundreds of billions saved on gasoline would be spent back into the economy pulling us out of this DEPRESSION, creating new jobs as companies of all types expand, and reducing pollution. Compare that to the $$$ giveaway to Wall Street billionaires started by Bush and the Republicans.

[zonkzilla]

And another defeat for the babbling nut case and Limbaugh hero Jim DeMint (R) of South Carolina.

[raskal_2]

I wonder why the simple statement "American made cars only" isn't being applied to this program. The source of the new money is a takeaway from the development of renewable energy fund. (Already allocated by the way.)
Should not American tax money be used to benefit the working Americans that pay the lion's share of the taxes? Then GM could pay back us tax payers. And the money can then be reused to further help Americans that don't feel so good.

[aChangeOfIdeas]

probably because a good number of foreign cars are pretty much made right here in the US, by American workers.

[npkppprc]

This isn't a fight between Republican and democrats it's a fight for what is right, it is not right to burden our future with bills our children can't pay. I guess it seems to be easier for people to draw these stupid political battle lines than to look closely at what the government is really doing to you and your income. Seems a lot of weak people are comfortable with becoming a socialist nation.

[npkppprc]

Very soon obamatheif will run out of citizens pockets to reach into.

[robinspp]

Think about today. Something done today is good for the people, we should appreciate. The republicans always think about tomorrow, even though it does not belong to them. They are old and they are living in 17th century. They do not want to change anything. They are against all reforms. Health care reforms, scientific research or anything good they are against. It is not going to help there generations.

[debinok1]

Is anyone even looking at the fact that this program is designed to do one thing and one thing only. This program is designed to reinflate the bubble. If they can get enough money moving in the right direction, the bubble starts to expand again. This program, the $8,000 tax credit for a house, all air pumps to reinflate the bubble. If their patches hold and these programs work according to plan, the bubble will burst again at a later date, only next time the damage will be much deeper and will last much longer, and those patches will not hold for very long.

Wake up people, this is not in the best interest of the people, it is in the best interest of the banks, mortgage companies, and wallstreet.

[omnibus66]

By Labor Day about 750,000 buyers will be helped by this program. Including immediate family, that's about two million voters helped. Maybe 40% of them voted Republican in the last election. That's 800,000 Republican voters helped by a program that wasn't supposed to work, according to their leaders.

Now that's the REAL reason the Republican leadership is so against the program. It will probably cost them votes. Party comes first. Everything else is secondary.