On October 3, 2008, the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) was signed into law. By October 28, 2008, $115 billion had been distributed to its recipients. It took just a little over three weeks to dole out 15% of the funds.
On June 24, 2009, the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) aka "Cash for Clunkers" was signed into law. The Cash for Clunkers program, funded with $1 billion, began on July 1, 2009 but ran out of appropriated funds by July 30th. On August 7th, Congress pumped another $2 billion into the program. However nearly seven weeks since the program began, the reimbursement to auto dealers has been slow - an estimated 8% of claims have been reimbursed.
How can our government successfully dole out $115 billion in three weeks to banks but can only process less than $240 million in seven weeks to auto dealers?
Why has the Obama administration refused to release the details of the purchases in CARS?
Could the difference be the ROI of lobbying efforts is far superior for the bank industry? There's nothing like a "little" campaign donation to grease the wheels a bit faster, right?
So the program has now officially ended. While the response was great for auto sales, we still do not know if the vehicles purchased through the program are indeed better for the environment, better on fuel economy and better for the tax payers. Let's hope the dealers get reimbursed soon and the Cash for Clunkers data gets released so we can find out.
On June 24, 2009, the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) aka "Cash for Clunkers" was signed into law. The Cash for Clunkers program, funded with $1 billion, began on July 1, 2009 but ran out of appropriated funds by July 30th. On August 7th, Congress pumped another $2 billion into the program. However nearly seven weeks since the program began, the reimbursement to auto dealers has been slow - an estimated 8% of claims have been reimbursed.
The Transportation Department said yesterday it had handled about 37 percent dealer requests submitted. The agency didn’t say how many of the processed transactions have been paid out and how many were rejected or sent back for further information.Lots of reasons have been given for the delays, including a flawed computer system, an overwhelming number of claims, lack of trained staff, dealer errors on claims filed and lack of preparation time for the program by all parties involved. All of these are valid issues. But it leads to a number of questions.
Some $145 million, or less than 8 percent, had been paid out to dealers as of Aug. 20, a senior administration official said on a call with reporters.
How can our government successfully dole out $115 billion in three weeks to banks but can only process less than $240 million in seven weeks to auto dealers?
Why has the Obama administration refused to release the details of the purchases in CARS?
Could the difference be the ROI of lobbying efforts is far superior for the bank industry? There's nothing like a "little" campaign donation to grease the wheels a bit faster, right?
So the program has now officially ended. While the response was great for auto sales, we still do not know if the vehicles purchased through the program are indeed better for the environment, better on fuel economy and better for the tax payers. Let's hope the dealers get reimbursed soon and the Cash for Clunkers data gets released so we can find out.
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