Cash for Clunkers

Everyone in the media seems all giddy about the Cash Allowance Rebate System..better known as Cash for Clunkers. Dealers are happy, customers are happy, and it's 'good for the environment', a phrase I hear so often now that I want to puke.

It doesn't seem to dawn on anybody that it also depletes the used vehicle market because these cars must be destroyed. While customers that can afford a new, fuel-efficient vehicle are understandably happy, what of a person who simply doesn't have the means to afford a new car and can only get something for 3 or 4K? Screw them, right?

What of the car enthusiast searching for parts for his classic car, or the aforementioned lower income person who needs to get a part to keep their daily driver running? Hard to find parts are being destroyed which in turn raises the cost of parts in the junkyard.

And not all of the cars being turned in for destruction are 'clunkers' either. Seems like every week I hear of one being brought in that has been meticulously maintained depite it's age and high mileage. One that would make a dandy car for a low income family, a single mom, or a struggling student. One that at the very least might make a good car to auction off for charity, give to a youth group, or a high school driver's ed car. But they must be destroyed.

CARS is nothing more than a gesture to say 'look, we're doing something about the environment' while screwing somebody else using your tax dollars.