Cash for Clunkers Administrative Nightmare, a Preview of Government Run Health Care

The Clunker program is truly a CLUNKER!

The lesson learned when dealing with any government run program … use at your own risk. The Cash for Clunkers program was a $1 billion, now $3 trillion government program. It was bean nothing short of a cluster, in premise and in practice. Imagine, just imagine when a $1.5 trillion health care program is run by the government?

The Cash for Clunkers program has been nothing short of an administrative nightmare. This program has been nothing short of a processing joke as it began late, crashed computers, web site was difficult to follow and ran out of money before the program started.

Now we learn that dealerships are not being paid by the government. Imagine that. A government run program that was first under funded and now appears to be under staffed to process the paper work for the Clunkers program. Who’s left holding the bag? The dealerships. As Blue Crab Boulevard calls it, “Nothing for Clunkers”.

A growing number of auto dealers say the process of getting paid under the government’s “cash for clunkers” plan increasingly resembles some of the wrecks accumulating on their lots as part of the program.

The slow payments coming from the federal government are reinforcing the paradoxical nature of the program for dealers: It has generated the most showroom traffic they have had in months while at the same time heaping unease, frustration and worry onto the industry’s worst-ever downturn.

As of the close of business Friday, there was talk in the industry that some dealers are considering pulling out of the clunkers program altogether.

“A number of dealers have floated $100,000 to upwards of $1 million or more” on the clunkers program, said Bill Sepic, president of the Wisconsin Automobile & Truck Dealers Association.

Dealers say they want to see at least some sign that they will be able to recoup that money. Still others need the money to pay bills and meet payroll.

The Dealerships signed on to this government program in good faith and now find none of their “clunker” deals being paid. “They rolled the program out and told us we’d get paid in 10 days. It’s been three weeks,” said Jim Griffin, who owns dealerships in Milwaukee, Waukesha and Menomonee Falls.

We all know what would happen if “WE” didn’t pay the government in the contracted time limit don’t we. Compare the disastrous administration of the clunkers program to a government run health care system. If it were handled in the same manner, doctor’s offices, hospitals, drug stories, etc would be shutting down because they would be getting reimbursed for nothing.

If the government is not capable of handling a program so small, how could they ever handle one that would be 1/6 of the US economy? Do you want to trust them with your health care?

UPDATE I: NY Dealers Pulling Out of “No” Cash for Clunkers Program

What a typical government give away program. Can these people get anything right? In perfect socialist, government give away fashion, the Clunkers program had among many flaws, one gaping one … actually paying car dealerships their money. Who cares about the car dealerships and private enterprise when this is about a give away? The government has responded far too slowly to the needs of this program, I wonder how they will respond to a brain tumor?

Hundreds of auto dealers in the New York area have withdrawn from the government’s Cash for Clunkers program, citing delays in getting reimbursed by the government, a dealership group said Wednesday.

The Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association, which represents dealerships in the New York metro area, said about half its 425 members have left the program because they cannot afford to offer more rebates. They’re also worried about getting repaid.

Oh those whiney dealerships wanting to be paid for their services so they can meet payroll … think anyone in government really cares? This program was never about a payment to dealerships, it was about “We the People” subsidizing other Americans so they could feel good about themselves and buy a new car.