Damn for such a great orator and politician, Obama has such a tin ear.. he is just dumb.. plain and simple D.U.M.B.

How can he think this is not going to be an issue in the 2010 congressional elections and also in 2012?

CASH FOR CLUNKERS: TRADE IN AMERICAN; BUY FOREIGN at DickMorris.com

The only part of the stimulus program that is working, the cash-for-clunkers program is, in reality, a subsidy to foreign car companies, proving that Barack Obama is the best president Japan ever had.

The Department of Transportation reports that the ten leading trade-ins are all American branded cars while six of the top ten new cars purchased - and four of the top five - are foreign. So the United States Senate is about to pass additional funds to subsidize the trade-in of American cars and the purchase of foreign cars.

DOT reports that the following are the ten top trade-ins, all American:

Ten Top Trade-Ins Under Cash for Clunkers

1. Ford Explorer
2. Ford F150 Pickup 2WD
3. Jeep Grand Cherokee 4 WD
4. Jeep Cherokee 4 WD
5. Dodge Caravan/Grand Caravan
6. Chevrolet Blazer 4 WD
7. Ford Explorer 2 WD
8. Ford F150 Pickup 4 WD
9. Chevrolet C1500 Pickup 2 WD
10. Ford Windstar FWD Van

And the top ten new car purchases, subsidized by the American taxpayer, are mainly foreign vehicles:

Top Ten New Car Purchases: Cash for Clunkers

1. Toyota Corolla
2. Ford Focus FWD
3. Honda Civic
4. Toyota Prius
5. Toyota Camry
6. Ford Escape FWD
7. Hyndai Elantra
8. Dodge Caliber
9. Honda Fit
10. Chevrolet Cobalt

It is a violation of the World Trade Organization rules to enact a public subsidy program and skew it toward only domestically produced products, so the Congress has no choice but to extend the program to all comers. No choice, that is, but to not spend the money in the first place.

Cash for Clunkers will do wonders for the Japanese economy, but its impact on the US job situation is problematic. This unintended consequence is a great illustration of what happens when the blunt tool of government subsidy is applied to the fine tuning of a free market economy. Government planners keep getting it wrong. That’s why socialism is such a bad idea.

So Obama can boast of a great success in taking American cars off the road and replacing them with foreign cars. Great going! ------------

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Obama, Making it Rain Beotch!!

One statistic that will be interesting to watch is how many of these cars are repossessed or after a few months how many people are having second thoughts. The dealer offers the car probably at MSRP (which is the top price) so in effect the $3500 to $4500 clunker trade-in has a marginal impact, even if the dealer offers other incentives.

If the buyer is driving an older vehicle (it is probably paid for) and if they need a government program (which is robbing Peter to pay Paul) for the down payment, more than likely their finances are not in great shape. Now the buyer is faced with a $15000 to $40000 dollar vehicle to be financed over 4 to 6 years. Which in effect adds to the growing 300 trillion dollar consumer debt in this country and is why the economy is not responding (there is no free money in people’s budgets to spend).

There is an old saying in engineering. If you want something you will have to give something up in return. So a new car translates into perhaps a small blip of economic activity in the near term but the incurred debt will lag the economy in the long term because buying power is diminished for needed appliances, food, medicine, or other necessities.

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Obama, Making it Rain Beotch!!

Hmmmmmmm.

Japanese cars are damn good cars. American cars are good, just not as good. The best car, hands down, that I've ever owned was a Honda Accord. I drove that thing until I thought the wheels would fall off. They never did. I traded it in on an American vehicle that I had nothing but problems with.

I drive American cars now, but would have no problem, whatsoever, buying a Japanese vehicle again, simply because of their quality.

As for the jobs, many Japanese auto makers have plants here in the United States, so it could be argued that this program is good, in that Americans are building those Japanese cars here in the States...

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Science flies you to the moon. Religion flies you into buildings...

That's why you work your deal before discussing a trade-in. It's silly to tell a dealer, right out of the box, that you've got a trade in. You always work the deal for the price of the vehicle you're buying, and then you discuss how you're going to pay for it. An honest dealer will honor a price regardless of how you're paying for it...

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Science flies you to the moon. Religion flies you into buildings...

I was about to point out the exact same thing. Honda has 13 of its plants located in the United States, Toyota has six, Nissan has three, and Hyundai/Kia have a handful, as well.

I looked into buying on this program. The Dealers, who would be dropping prices now that the new production year is under way, are not dropping prices at all, at least not on cars that qualify for C4C.

So in effect, the 10% to 15% the dealers would be dropping, they are merely switching for the C4C money. The buyer still gets 10% - 15% off MSRP, but they would have gotten 20% - 30% off had the dealers applied the C4C money in addition to the discount. Essentially, the dealers are stealing the C4C money.

The fact that people are waiting in line to buy just reinforces this behavior. Supply and demand. When do you charge $10 for a hamburger... When ever you can.

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...We've traveled to every corner of the United States. I've now been to 57 states. I think one left to go. - Barry Obama

Toyota and Honda have several US facilities and employ lots of people.

Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc.
Toyota Motor Manufacturing, West Virginia, Inc.
Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Indiana, Inc.
Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Alabama, Inc.
Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Texas, Inc.
Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc.

Honda: Honda - Operations Facilities
We opened our first U.S. plant in 1979 and have evolved into a company that directly employs more than 25,000 Americans. More than 100,000 workers are employed at authorized Honda automobile, motorcycle and power-equipment dealerships in the United States. Tens of thousands of additional Americans are employed by more than nearly 600 U.S. suppliers from which Honda purchases parts and materials. Honda is proud to provide jobs that help better the American economy and will continue to work hard to do so.

I am loving the VW I bought by trading in my Ford.

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Those on the left in this country are anything but liberals.

I am a liberal, a classical liberal. Classical liberalism is liberalism, but the current collectivists have captured that designation in the United States. In Europe they are glad enough to call themselves socialists. But no one in America wants to be called socialist and admit what they are.

Don't worry, we had our own cash for clunkers here ("Abwrackprämie") and people bought japanese cars, as well. On the top of that, it hurts our second hand car dealers and our independent garages. I wonder why the US repeated our mistake AFTER we made it.

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"You're saying she's evil?"
"Worse. An idealist."

How many Japanese car production plants are there in Germany? A large portion of Japanese cars in the US are made in the US by Americans.

All this demonstrates is:

1) The sins of our past in subsidizing the sale of SUVs (remeber that?) resulted in a lot of clunkers on the road. The domestic car companies focused on pushing these large cars and trucks because they had a higher profit margin.

2) American cars have historically been clunkers (high gas mileage) compared to foreign counterparts. I think this is conventional wisdom...

3) Obama is instituting a free market policy in which the playing field is level for all car manufacturers. If he instituted a protectionist policy, the gripes would be just as plentiful.

4) Dick Morris is presented as an expert in many things, but generally reveals himself simply as an expert blowhard.

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The world could use more Stan Ovshinsky's

Because, just like with all the social programs that the libs want to copy from Europe, they don't want to be America. They want to be Europe part 2.

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A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.
- George Bernard Shaw

...or because, as stated numerous times, most Japanese cars in the US are manufactured here in the US by factories that have American employees, which will benefit the US economy. From what I can tell, there aren't any Toyota or Honda plants in Germany, so it was a bad move for them...

I'm sure it will benefit a few normal joes working the line and some management jobs...

But where are the profits going?

I will admit that I like he fact that the Japanese cars made in the US aren't run by the unions. That gives them a huge leg up. If GM and Co could kick those pieces of shits to the road, they might be able to get some decent work done.

Notice the states that Toyota has it's plants in wooyarn's post. You won't see them set up shop in a blue state, that's for damn sure.

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A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.
- George Bernard Shaw

to be fair, we pretty much are europe, part 2

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"My country is the world, and my religion is to do good." --Thomas Paine