HOW TO SCAM THE "'OBAMACASH'-FOR-CLUNKERS" PROGRAM

[Get the latest "Truth With Speedzzter" here]

Rep. Betty Sutton [Another tax-money-wasting, "appliance motorist" bonehead in Congress] of Ohio (D) introduced a bill in Congress called Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save bill (CARS Act) that revives the so-called "Cash for Clunkers" plan. This bill would offer consumers up to $5,000 to trade in a vehicle that's at least 8 years old in exchange for a new one built in the United States that gets at least 27 mpg if it's a car or 24 mpg if it's a truck or SUV. The total payout would be based on the new vehicle's mileage rating.

General Motors, Ford [Say it isn't so!] and Chrysler are all supporting the bill, as is the United Auto Workers union. Vehicles built in either Canada or Mexico would need to get at least 30 mpg and would be eligible for up to $4,000. The CARS plan would apply to all automakers equally, but only for vehicles assembled in North America [READ: Huge taxpayer-funded windfall for the predatory Japanese invaders . . . with more profits shipped back to "Sweet Home Tokyo!" Hmm? Borrowing money from the Chinese to hand over to the Japanese . . . "I love it when a "plan" comes together." ]. . . . Mass transit vouchers [Oh what stinky, sweaty, crowded, time-wasting fun.] would also be included in the legislation as an option for trading in an older vehicle.

RICHARD TRUETT, engineering reporter for the Automotive News, writes the following in an opinion article entitled "Can a scrappage incentive block the scam artists?"

I can see a cottage industry springing up that would work like this: I'm in the market for a new car, but my old one doesn't qualify for the scrappage credit. Or the car is worth more for me to sell it outright.

So I find a dilapidated old bomber on Craigslist, eBay Motors, or in the local classifieds that I would buy for less than the scrappage credit. And then use that for the trade and the $5,000 government credit. You can bet old gas-guzzlers would shoot up in value and be hoarded by those looking to make a quick buck.

It only makes sense. If I could buy a 1988 Chevrolet Caprice that barely runs for $200 and quickly flip it to someone looking to use it for a scrappage trade worth as much as $5,000, I could sell it for a hefty profit.

Undoubtedly regardless of how such a brain-dead, money-wasting "Cash for Clunkers" plan is crafted, smart people (i.e. not government bureaucrats) will be able to figure out how to "scam" it for fun and profit.

Of course a lot of significant future collectibles will be cubed out of shear greed. And the ones that are left will immediately soar in price.

(What's more, as used car supplies inflate in price and dwindle in supply, dealers will also jack up the price of new vehicles. Thus the ObamaCash "voucher" might prove somewhat illusory in the long run)

Along this "unintended consequences" line is a "Freakonomics" analysis of "Cash For Clunkers,"("No Cash for Clunkers"
By Steven D. Levitt) which reasoned:

[U]nless the price the government pays for the clunkers is very high, the majority of vehicles that are turned in will not have been driven much, if at all. Indeed, I suspect one of the most visible responses to this program will be a new market for mechanics fixing up cars that don’t run at all just enough so that they can be driven to the government’s lot to collect the cash.

A double "scam" would be to score the "beater" trade-in as outlined above (hopefully it's a rusted-out Japanese invader "appliance motoring" heap), sell it to Uncle Sam for the full "voucher" windfall, and put the "ObamaCash" "on the hood" of a "payment guaranteed" muscle car, then road-trip on unemployment while the government (READ: your grandchildren) and GM picks up the tab . . . .

That's the new definition of "responsiblity" in the Age of Obama.