Cash for Clunkers

So, it's been a while, so I will make this brief.  Movie is moving along, working on special fx, had a great, wild time shooting. I appreciate all those people who helped me out.  I'm in the process of writing another script called The Quest.  I'll explain more later because this article is about Cash for Clunkers.

I understand some of the dynamic of how it works.  Government buys old cars which burn fuel "inefficiently" through auto dealers, and auto dealers apply the money towards a newer, more fuel efficient car.  The middle and upper classes will benefit from this by getting rid of their old cars in exchange for buying a newer, better car that has better gas mileage, and fewer emissions.  The auto dealer sees a great influx of business, thus stimulating the economy further.  The clunkers are then destroyed.

There are two problems I have with this process.  First, destroying these clunkers is NOT good for the environment.  Second, this only benefits the upper and middle classes.  I and many others propose something I'm going to call the Missing Ingredient to this recipe.  Let's help out the poor and non-profits who help the poor.

There is not a great reason why these clunkers need to be destroyed when they could be given to a non-profit so they can sell them for rock bottom prices to people who could use a "new" car.  There are several benefits to this Missing Ingredient.

For one, the environment can be temporarily spared from so many cars being destroyed at once.  Two, there is a great chance that the current cars poor people use are of even worse fuel economy than the current "clunkers", and getting one of them would be a step up.  This would take vehicles that might be even worse than these clunkers off the streets.  Maybe an exchange can be made, and the REAL clunkers can be taken off the streets.  The reality is, a poor person, who has a clunker of clunkers, isn't going to exchange it for a car they can't afford at an auto dealership.  But they might if they receive a car they CAN afford.  Three, non-profits can make some money off it, which can be used to further improve the lives of the poor.  Four, it adds a bigger incentive for the middle and upper class to turn in their clunkers, because not only do they buy a cheap, new, fuel efficient, environmental friendly car, that they know that the government is paying for, but the auto dealership is benefiting from it, and on top of that, they know that their old car is going to benefit some poor person somewhere, and also help keep non-profits afloat in this ever stingy economy.

The Missing Ingredient is making a Cash for Clunkers for the poor.  Don't just leave it at the middle class and upper class.  Take it one step further.  Donate these clunkers to non-profit organizations who can sell them for rock bottom prices to poor people, who can use these cars to get to their jobs, to take their kids to school, to replace their horrible vehicle that's on it's last breath, and so these non-profits can use the money to further improve what they do to help the poor, say improve food banks with the proceeds of selling these clunkers, essentially making it so a poor person not only gets a car, but the money they spend on the car goes into the place that also feeds them.  This will also spare the environment a little bit by not destroying a million cars at once.

Why do all that for the poor?  Because many of us who used to not consider themselves poor, are now poor.  Many of us know people who were once middle class and upper class, but are now poor.  This economy is brutal right now, and there is NO reason why a good idea needs to be overlooked.  We can't afford to.  Add this Missing Ingredient to this recipe for economic recovery, and you have a real winner.  Politicians will eat that up.  So tell your local politician.  Lot's of people win with this strategy, and it can give you some warm fuzzies.

Comments

[John]

But Dude WMM, there is a flaw in your argument. The program was "sold" under the guise of fuel efficiency. If you put the inefficient cars back on the road, then the four or five billion spent on the program didn't serve the original purpose. Some will claim that it stimulated auto sells, but I think people did what I was going to do, hold off my purchase until the program took effect. So the low sales for the first half of the year were due to buyers waiting for the discount, not an inability to afford a car. Nevertheless, your suggestions are very good and thought out. I drive a 1989 civic. It wasn't considered a clunker, so I didn't buy a new car.