{"id":33110,"date":"2009-08-03T01:01:01","date_gmt":"2011-05-19T02:05:25","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2011-05-19T02:05:25","modified_gmt":"2011-05-19T02:05:25","slug":"the_cash_for_clunkers_boondoggle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2009\/08\/03\/the_cash_for_clunkers_boondoggle\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cash for Clunkers Boondoggle"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

RUSH: Look at the clash-for-clunker program, it\u2019s got a lot of problems. The Wall Street Journal, in fact, today has an editorial, ‘Hey, let\u2019s have a $4,500 subsidy for everything!\u2019 I wonder where they heard that. We discussed that on this program Friday. Listen how they start this thing: ‘Americans are streaming back into auto showrooms, and one reason is the ‘Cash for Clunkers\u2019 subsidy. Democrats are naturally claiming this is a great success, while Republicans are claiming that because the program has run out of clunker cash so quickly, this proves government can\u2019t run the health-care system. <\/p>\n

‘How do we elect these people? What the clunker policy really proves is that Americans aren\u2019t stupid and will let some other taxpayer buy them a free lunch if given the chance.\u2019 Now, that\u2019s the Wall Street Journal\u2019s take, and I think that people are looking at this a little wrong way, because what this is is a tax cut. Now, not everybody\u2019s getting this $4,500 or $3,500. You have to qualify for the cash for clunker program to do it, to qualify for it. But whose money is this? Whose money is this? The government is having to print this money. We don\u2019t have it. They have already spent all of our tax revenue and then some, times 10 or 20. But this is, to me, an example of how you would stimulate the economy. Nothing has forced people into automobile showrooms in the last two years like this. Nothing has. <\/p>\n

This is a great lesson in how you genuinely stimulate an economy. You put money into the hands and pockets of the American people who make up the US economy. Now, you don\u2019t do that by writing them checks. You do it by cutting taxes, letting them keep more of what they earn, which incentivizes people to go work. It incentivizes them to earn more money. But, no, what are we doing? We\u2019re talking about extending unemployment compensation benefits! You know it\u2019s up to 79 weeks now? Seventy nine weeks. And the more you pay people unemployment compensation, the more they will not seek work. It\u2019s human nature, and anybody with any economic literacy knows this. So this is not… We\u2019re not doing this to be compassionate. We are doing this to create chaos. <\/p>\n

We\u2019re doing this to create a crisis that then Obama and his people can say, ‘Okay, yeah, we\u2019re the only ones can fix it. The government\u2019s the only entity big enough to handle all this.\u2019 They want you willingly to turn over as much of your liberty and your freedom and your earning power as you can, to them. Now, the cash-for-clunkers program, Republicans are opposing it, in a sort of unique way. McCain and some others are saying, you know what this is? I mean, look at who\u2019s… The majority of the money is going to automobile companies owned by who? Obama, the government. And so these companies are being subsidized, owned by the government with taxpayer money. They say we gotta stop this. That\u2019s through the Republican point of view. Jim DeMint also opposed to the program. I\u2019m opposed to it because of the precedent that it sets that you can only buy a car if the government gives you some money. <\/p>\n

Now, people don\u2019t look at this as getting their… Some people do, but most people don\u2019t look at this as getting your their own money back. They just look at it as a deal. But the government proved it can\u2019t even run this. It\u2019s the most simple transaction that Americans engage in, the automobile trade-in, and they can\u2019t even manage this, a $1 billion program! But it does reveal — despite all the flaws, it reveals — how you really stimulate an economy. And I\u2019ll guarantee you, if this program dies and doesn\u2019t get fueled with any more money it\u2019s because they have ultimately decided they don\u2019t want you to have that much money. They don\u2019t want your hard-earned tax money to be returned to you in whatever way it comes. It\u2019s just a golden opportunity here to learn who these people really are and what it\u2019s all about. <\/p>\n

It does show… The Journal headline here: ‘Let\u2019s Have a $4,500 Subsidy for Everything — [T]his is crackpot economics. The subsidy won\u2019t add to net national wealth, since it merely transfers money to one taxpayer\u2019s pocket from someone else\u2019s, and merely pays that taxpayer to destroy a perfectly serviceable asset [a car] in return for something he might have bought anyway.\u2019 It\u2019s on the CARS website. I went and looked at it today. There\u2019s actually a demonstration of how to take a perfectly good Volvo and ruin it and make it qualify for the program. There\u2019s a video. It\u2019s gone ‘viral,\u2019 as the kids say, on YouTube. And there are instructions on the CARS website how to take your perfectly fine Volvo and ruin it to the point that it qualifies for the program. <\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: Let me clarify something here, folks. I\u2019ve not been speaking accurately on this YouTube video on the engine disablement. I\u2019ve been saying the video shows you how to disable it to make it qualify. That\u2019s not what happens. The instructions on the CARS website are for the dealer to disable a car to make it qualify as a ‘clunker\u2019 when you bring it in. The whole point of this is if people bring in working cars, the dealers at the government\u2019s instructions disable them so that they will not run. (interruption) Would you…? (interruption) I know it\u2019s worse. I apologize for not being clear on this, but let me just read a couple things from the government\u2019s own website on this. <\/p>\n

This procedure is entitled, ‘Engine Disablement Procedures for the CARS Program — THIS PROCEDURE IS NOT TO BE USED BY THE VEHICLE OWNER — Perform the following procedure to disable the vehicle engine. — 1. Obtain solution of 40% sodium silicate\/60% water. (The Sodium Silicate (SiO2\/Na2O) must have a weight ratio of 3.0 or greater.) 2. Drain engine oil for environmentally appropriate disposal. … CAUTION: Wear goggles and gloves. Appropriate protective clothing should be worn to prevent silicate solution from coming into contact with the skin.\u2019 This is all about disabling a perfectly fine car to make it qualify. (sigh) <\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: Here\u2019s Jim DeMint, by the way, on the cash-for-clunkers program. He was on Fox News Sunday yesterday. Chris Wallace said, ‘Look, as many as 250,000 new cars were bought in the very first week in the midst of a recession. Why do you oppose putting more money into the program?\u2019<\/p>\n

DEMINT: This is another bill that congressman and senators didn\u2019t even read. The federal government is getting in the used car business, and we think, ‘Hey, this is working great.\u2019 But my children and grandchildren are going to have pay for these cars and we\u2019re helping auto dealers while there are thousands of other small businesses that aren\u2019t getting the help. The role of the federal government is not to run the used car business, and it\u2019s clear. You can look at Amtrak or the Post Office and now cash for clunkers. The federal government went bankrupt in one week in the used car business and now they want to run our health care system. I just think this is a great example of the stupidity that\u2019s coming out of Washington right now.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Chris Wallace said, ‘Look, it sailed through the House in a day. It\u2019s going to come up to the Senate next week. Are you going to be able to block it?\u2019<\/p>\n

DEMINT: I\u2019ve heard John McCain is going to stand up and try to stop it, and I\u2019m going to work with him every way I can.<\/p>\n

WALLACE: That means a filibuster? <\/p>\n

DEMINT: It makes no sense. I don\u2019t know what it means right now, Chris, but this is crazy to try to rush this thing through again while they\u2019re trying to rush through health care and they want to get on to cap-and-trade electricity tax. We\u2019ve gotta slow this thing down.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Yeah. Unfortunately, Senator, you don\u2019t have the votes to do it. Filibuster the cash-for-clunkers program. The one thing that some people… (interruption) What\u2019s your read on this, Snerdley? You think people like the program? (interruption) I think a lot of people do. Of course, they\u2019re getting the $4,500 trade-in; or $3,500, depending on what quality their car is and so forth. But it\u2019s interesting to note that Chrysler and General Motors are owned by the government. The government is paying itself, and the United Auto Workers union people who work there. It\u2019s very typical. I have a friend in Kansas City. Now, I haven\u2019t seen… Have you seen any TV commercials for the program? (interruption) Then you confirm this. I haven\u2019t. I was away from television all weekend. I didn\u2019t have it on. <\/p>\n

My friend in Kansas City said watching these commercials, and if you didn\u2019t know better — \u2019cause taking sound bites from Obama commenting on the cash-for-clunker program — the commercials make it look like Obama is selling you a car at a real steel of a deal, that Obama is actually the one making this happen. Obama is involved! Obama wants you to have 4,500 bucks so you can go out and get rid of this clunker. And, by the way, if you take in a perfectly good car, it has to be disabled. It may be a perfectly fine car that doesn\u2019t qualify mileage-wise and whatever. In other words, you don\u2019t really have to have a clunker. They\u2019re going to take what you take in and make it a clunker if they have to! They\u2019re gonna ruin the engine, is basically what they do. It\u2019s a 14-step process. Is that an accurate description of the commercials you\u2019re seeing for this or are you seeing local dealer commercials? (interruption) Mmm-hmm. Well… (interruption) Mmmm. (interruption) Yeah, the foreign auto spots I\u2019ve heard, too, are funny. ‘We\u2019re better than the American cars. Come in and deal with us.\u2019 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RUSH: Look at the clash-for-clunker program, it\u2019s got a lot of problems. The Wall Street Journal, in fact, today has an editorial, ‘Hey, let\u2019s have a $4,500 subsidy for everything!\u2019 I wonder where they heard that. We discussed that on this program Friday. Listen how they start this thing: ‘Americans are streaming back into auto […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Cash for Clunkers Boondoggle - The Rush Limbaugh Show<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2009\/08\/03\/the_cash_for_clunkers_boondoggle\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"The Cash for Clunkers Boondoggle - The Rush Limbaugh Show\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"RUSH: Look at the clash-for-clunker program, it\u2019s got a lot of problems. 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