Senate Reaches Cash-for-Clunkers Deal

Majority Leader Announced Thursday Vote After Lengthy Negotiations; Shoppers Would Have Until Labor Day

(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.

[michaelm07]

Every single one of those in the Congress and Senate are failing in their responsibilities to the voters who sent them there. Shame on the voters who never educate themselves before they cast their ballots but NONE of them desearve the offices they occupy. They couldn't care less what we think and therefore, they all need to voted out - ALL OF THEM. Could they be running the country any worse than they have been. As for the libs that blame Bush and even conservatives that blame Obama (who really is a joker), it is the Congress and Senate that write and pass the laws. The only way to ensure they know we mean business is to VOTE THEM OUT next election, all of them, both sides of the aisle. If there is one you like, vote them back in the next time but they will then in fact do, what we sent them there to do. We are their bosses and they have forgotten that and view it as the opposite and treat us like children. NO MORE, ENOUGH!

[specialty8]

People of Nev. and Cal, please vote Reid and Pelosi out,you have seen the damage they have done.

[daffy64]

Great idea for a program. It gets people buying cars again and saves fuel. Two billions for this program seems like a deal to me.

But then, anything seems like a deal after spending a trillion in Iraq. For no reason.

[CitizenMikeM]

I agree. In addition--the average car deal raised the mpg on each new vehicle 10 miles per gallon.

[the_majesty]

I just want people to remember that it is the Obama democrats that keep pushing this country deeper into dept. In 2010 we need to vote them out.

[melchg07]

Yeah and everyone just needs to forget about the roughly 90% of the National Debt incurred during the last 3 Republican Presidencies.

Now they are trying to scare the public about taxes to defeat healthcare reform but there isn't much mention of how this would effect the overall standard of living.

For instance....lets hypothetically say that if nothing is done for reform we would spend and average of $9000 per year on insurance premiums. However lets say that if reform is done and in the long run premiums $1500 lower but the reform cost us $500 per in higher taxes.

Now although the average person would on average save about $1000 in healthcare costs the GOP would love to deminish that because we had to pay more in taxes to save more money.

Pretty fiscally smart huh?

[luadda22]

melchg, The annual deficit on 1/20/09 was about $560 billion, the CBO and the White House estimate this year's deficit at about $1.7 to $1.8 TRILLION (and that's with out health care reform or "cap & trade). Bush spent chump change compared to the "progressives" we have in office now. Your math states that health care costs $9000 per year. The reforms they are talking about will not lower that amount. It will just shift who has to pay the difference. I do not hate the rich, I do not want the government to take their money and give it to me. I have more pride than that.

[CitizenMikeM]

Hawksprings...
Most of this years deficit was on the Bush Administration. Also, during the Bush Admin. the National Debt went from roughly 4.5 Bill to over 9 bill. Has everyone just turned a blind eye to that?