{"id":2625,"date":"2009-08-18T19:42:45","date_gmt":"2009-08-18T23:42:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/?p=2625"},"modified":"2009-08-18T19:42:45","modified_gmt":"2009-08-18T23:42:45","slug":"cash-for-clunkers-a-clunker-says-a-liberal-democrat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/08\/18\/cash-for-clunkers-a-clunker-says-a-liberal-democrat\/","title":{"rendered":"Cash for Clunkers, a Clunker, Says a Liberal Democrat"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Ouch, keep in mind that Congressman <a href=\"http:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/2009\/08\/16\/auto-dealers-paid-just-percent-clunkers-claims-congressman-says\/?test=latestnews\" target=\"_blank\">blowing the whistle<\/a> on problems with the supposedly &#8220;wildly successful&#8221; cash for clunkers isn&#8217;t a Republican or even Blue Dog Democrat&#8230; He&#8217;s a liberal Democrat:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The federal government has only reimbursed auto dealers for 2 percent of the claims they&#8217;ve submitted through the popular &#8220;cash for clunkers&#8221; program, a Pennsylvania congressman said, calling on the Obama administration to help speed up the process.<\/p>\n<p>Rep.  Joe Sestak, D-Pa., called for &#8220;immediate action&#8221; to address the problem in a statement Sunday, after writing a letter to President Obama Saturday expressing his concerns.<\/p>\n<p>In the letter, Sestak said only 2 percent of claims have been paid and       that four of every five applications have been &#8220;rejected for minor oversight.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In recent days, auto dealers across the country have been complaining that the reimbursement payments are slow to process. And they said some of their applications were being rejected because of apparent procedural issues. The statistics Sestak cited suggest those complaints are not based on isolated incidents.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>It shouldn&#8217;t surprise anyone that the Cash for Clunkers program has paid off on just on 2% of the claims submitted by dealers, while 4 out 5 of those applications have been rejected for bureaucratic nonsense. As the Wall Street Journal <a href=\"http:\/\/online.wsj.com\/article\/SB10001424052970204908604574332870419775150.html\" target=\"_blank\">noted<\/a> the media has played up the &#8220;success&#8221; of the program while ignoring the problems including confusing rules, complicated paperwork, and a dysfunctional Web site.<\/p>\n<p>I know this probably a cheap shot, but what the hell? If the Federal Government can&#8217;t run a program like Cash for Clunkers efficiently what makes anyone think they could administer health care efficiently?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/online.wsj.com\/article\/SB20001424052970203609204574316272239148930.html\" target=\"_blank\">Cashing In \tThat Clunker \tIs No Easy Ride<\/a> &#8211; Wall Street Journal<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2009\/POLITICS\/08\/03\/miron.clunkers\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\">Commentary: Cash for clunkers is a clunker<\/a> &#8211; CNN<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ouch, keep in mind that Congressman blowing the whistle on problems with the supposedly &#8220;wildly successful&#8221; cash for clunkers isn&#8217;t a Republican or even Blue Dog Democrat&#8230; He&#8217;s a liberal Democrat: The federal government has only reimbursed auto dealers for 2 percent of the claims they&#8217;ve submitted through the popular &#8220;cash for clunkers&#8221; program, a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[26,7],"tags":[313,799,694],"class_list":["post-2625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-economy","category-politics","tag-auto-industry","tag-cash-for-clunkers","tag-joe-sestak","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pfpI7-Gl","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1430,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/01\/30\/cash-for-clunkers\/","url_meta":{"origin":2625,"position":0},"title":"Cash for Clunkers???","author":"Jeff","date":"January 30, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The Wall Street Journal has details on ongoing talks between auto industry officials and lawmakers on a plan aimed at\u00a0 reviving vehicle sales. Under the proposal consumers who replace older gas guzzlers with new fuel-efficient cars would be eligible for federal tax credits of as much as $4,500. Auto-industry officials\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Economy&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Economy","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/economy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2895,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/10\/29\/third-quarter-gdp-rises-to-3-5-but\/","url_meta":{"origin":2625,"position":1},"title":"Third Quarter GDP Rises to 3.5%&#8230; But&#8230;","author":"Jeff","date":"October 29, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"From Reuters: The U.S. economy grew in the third quarter for the first time in more than a year as government stimulus helped lift consumer spending and home building, fueling an unexpectedly strong advance. Signaling the end of the worst recession in 70 years, the Commerce Department on Thursday said\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Economy&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Economy","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/economy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2260,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/05\/27\/rep-joe-sestak-to-chalenge-arlen-specter\/","url_meta":{"origin":2625,"position":2},"title":"Rep. Joe Sestak to Chalenge Arlen Specter","author":"Jeff","date":"May 27, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"TPM is reporting that Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) is privately telling supports that he intends to challenge newly minted Democratic incumbent Arlen Specter: \"He intends to get in the race,\" says Meg Infantino, the Congressman's sister, who works at Sestak for Congress. \"In the not too distant future, he will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Politics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3090,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/12\/22\/commerce-department-revises-3rd-quater-gdp-downward-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":2625,"position":3},"title":"Commerce Department Revises 3rd Quater GDP Downward&#8230; Again","author":"Jeff","date":"December 22, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Two months the media and Obama Administration were trumpeting the announcement that third quarter GDP had grown at an annualized rate of 3.5%. Unfortunately, their celebrations were a bit premature the Commerce Department today announced their final estimate of third quarter GDP... Not surprisingly third quarter GDP was a lot\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Economy&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Economy","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/economy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1708,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/03\/19\/congressman-mccotter-slams-stimulus-yes-voters-for-protecting-aig-executive-bonuses\/","url_meta":{"origin":2625,"position":4},"title":"Congressman McCotter Slams Stimulus &#8220;Yes&#8221; Voters for Protecting AIG Executive Bonuses","author":"Jeff","date":"March 19, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm about ready to make Rep. Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan my adopted Congressman: \"Facts are hard things to disprove.\u00a0 Every single Democrat in this House that voted for that bill voted to approve and protect those AIG bonuses.\u00a0 Every single Democrat in the Senate that voted for that stimulus bill,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Economy&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Economy","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/economy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2538,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/07\/25\/chris-dodd-hates-lobbyists-but-not-their-cash\/","url_meta":{"origin":2625,"position":5},"title":"Chris Dodd Hates Lobbyists But Not Their Cash","author":"Jeff","date":"July 25, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"What I'm about to say should come as no surprise... Chris Dodd is a populist hypocrite. Just days after his campaign manager Jay Howser was sending e-mail to Dodd's supporters proclaiming, \u201cBut what about the forgotten victims of Chris\u2019s efforts? What about the lobbyists? The lobbyists can\u2019t get meetings with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Politics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2625\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}