Cash for Clunkers Still On…FOR THIS WEEKEND
and maybe even further!
The House on Friday passed a bill to allocate another $2 billion to the Cash for Clunkers program. The move came after reports on Thursday that the program was out of money. The bill, which diverts $2 billion from a U.S. Department of Energy program loan guarantee program, passed 316-109.
“I’m pleased about the progress made in the House today about the cash for clunkers program,” said President Obama, in a speech immediately following the vote.
President Obama, in his Friday speech, presented the program as a success: “I’m happy to report that it has already succeeded beyond our expectations. It’s working so well that there are legitimate concerns that the original funds might already be exhausted.”
Cash for Clunkers, which Congress passed in June, was set to end on Nov. 1 or whenever its $1 billion budget was depleted.
Under the plan as enacted, vehicles purchased afterJuly 1 will be eligible for refund vouchers worth $3,500 to $4,500 on traded-in gas guzzlers. The trade-in vehicle has to get combined city and highway fuel economy ratings of 18 miles per gallon or less. The program aims at helping the struggling auto industry by taking inefficient cars off the road.
