WASHINGTON (AP) - The most common deals under the government's $3 billion Cash for Clunkers program, aimed at putting more fuel-efficient cars on the road, replaced old Ford or Chevrolet pickups with new ones that got only marginally better gas mileage, according to an analysis of new federal data by The Associated Press.
The single most common swap - which occurred more than 8,200 times - involved Ford F150 pickup owners who took advantage of a government rebate to trade their old trucks for new Ford F150s. They were 17 times more likely to buy a new F150 than, say, a Toyota Prius. The fuel economy for the new trucks ranged from 15 mpg to 17 mpg based on engine size and other factors, an improvement of just 1 mpg to 3 mpg over the clunkers.
Owners of thousands more large old Chevrolet and Dodge pickups bought new Silverado and Ram trucks, also with only barely improved mileage in the middle teens, according to AP's analysis of sales of $15.2 billion worth of vehicles at nearly 19,000 car dealerships in every state. Those deals helped the Ford F150 and Chevy Silverado - along with Ford's Escape midsize SUV - climb into the Top 10 most-popular vehicles purchased with the government rebates. The most common truck-for-truck and truck-for-SUV deals totaled at least $911 million.
In scores of deals, the government reported spending a total of $562,500 in rebates for new cars and trucks that got worse or the same mileage as the trade-ins - in apparent violation of the program's requirements. The government said it is investigating those reports and said in some cases they were probably entered incorrectly by dealers or based on outdated fuel economy figures.
The new data, obtained by the AP under the Freedom of Information Act, include details of 677,081 clunker trade-ins processed by the government through Oct. 16. More than 95,000 of the new vehicles purchased under the program - or about one in seven - got less than 20 mpg, according to the data.
http://apnews.myway.com//article/20091104/D9BOVMNG0.html
Maybe I missed something. But I thought that the main purpose of the "Cash for Clunkers" program was to put more fuel efficient vehicles back on the road in the "clunkers" place. It appears that we kinda missed the mark on that one.
But, by god, they got fresh auto payments for the banks! They don't seem to miss a beat in scheming to fleece us all at every turn. And stupid pricks just seem to stand in line waiting patiently for the fucking they're about to ask for and get!
What amazes me is that I'm pretty sure that most people SEE the hypocrisy in these public money schemes to continue transferring the wealth to the extremely few. Yet, they smile, open their wallets and sign on the dotted line just the same.
As P.T. Barnum so aptly put it, there is a sucker born every minute.
I might add that if you wish to see one, you need only look in the mirror.
