Michelle Malkin » Oh, no: Sen. Mikulski pitches dumb car-loan stimulus again; Update: 71-26, passes

Oh, no: Sen. Mikulski pitches dumb car-loan stimulus again; Update: 71-26, passes

By Michelle Malkin • February 3, 2009 04:00 PM

I’m watching Democrat Sen. Barbara Mikulski trying to attach her moronic car-loan stimulus plan again to the Senate version of the Generationl Theft Act of 2009. Doesn’t the auto industry have enough of our money already?

I nominated it for a Dumb Idea of the Day in last November:

Maryland Democrat Sen. Barbara Mikulski just wrapped up her pitch for another temporary stimulus gimmick — short-term tax incentives to car buyers. Unfortunately, she got Missouri GOP Sen. Kit Bond to co-sponsor this $2-3 billion feel-good amendment.

Under the bill she plans to introduce in a coming lame-duck session, interest payments on car loans, and sales and excise taxes would be tax-deductible, Mikulski said. The program, which would apply to new vehicles purchased through the end of 2009, would be part of legislation designed to stimulate the economy.

…Mikulski estimated that under her proposal, buyers of a $25,000 Dodge minivan would save $1,553. The incentives would apply to loans of up to $49,500. Households with incomes above $250,000 would not be eligible.

The estimated the cost of the proposal would be between $2 billion and $3 billion, she said.

Three quick points:

1) Now, these same Democrats who scream about global warming want Americans to buy more cars?

2) If they think these tax incentives are such good ideas, go ahead and make them permanent. Go. Ahead.

3) Spending beyond our means is what got this country into trouble in this first place. This kind of temporary political gimmickry is going to exacerbate the problem. Encouraging people to take out $50,000 car loans before the end of the year when they should be saving their money instead?

Brilliant.

The inevitable lard-up continues…

Update 4:02pm Eastern. Good to see Democrat Sen. Max Baucus opposing Mikulski’s amendment, supported by GOP Sen. Kit Bond (ugh!), based on the cost. He says it would cost $11 billion.

Update 5:02pm Eastern. Mikulski amendment passes 71-26. Tack on another $11 billion to the spendulus price tag.

Posted in: fiscal stimulus

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#610781

On February 3rd, 2009 at 4:06 pm, Dexter Alarius said:

Well, you’ve gotta give them credit for actually looking at tax cuts. They just need to be re-directed toward the right taxes, i.e. capital gains, corporate taxes, income taxes, etc…
#610784

On February 3rd, 2009 at 4:10 pm, battleaxe said:

Here a billion, there a billion, everywhere a billion billion. Old Obama spent my dough, Ow, Ow, Ow, Ow, OUCH!
#610789

On February 3rd, 2009 at 4:17 pm, DagneyT said:

Why do we keep putting into office politicians who’ve never run a business, never had a payroll to pay, never have any expertise that would translate to wise and obvious fixes to financial woes! Now they’re talking about “paid volunteers”!!!!!!!!! Do they not realize that is a contradiction in terms? I’m starting to wish there really was a parallel universe I could transport to! Scotty, beam me up!
#610797

On February 3rd, 2009 at 4:21 pm, John Deaux said:

Why was it that suspending Fica was such a bad idea?

Riiiiiiight, because people don’t spend money they don’t have on things they don’t need. Got it.
#610800

On February 3rd, 2009 at 4:22 pm, simcoe said:

A couple of old axioms might fit well here—

It’s better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you’re ignorant than to open it and remove all doubt.

Or…

If you don’t have anything intelligent to say, don’t say anything at all.
#610806

On February 3rd, 2009 at 4:24 pm, cpodug said:

If you don’t have anything intelligent to say, ~~don’t say anything at all.~~you can always become a politician.

Fixed it for ya.
#610810

On February 3rd, 2009 at 4:26 pm, graysonret said:

Gee, and I bought a new car back in November. Dang, should have waited. This congress has really gone amok with its “feeding frenzy” on our money. The way I see it, if they offer everyone a “piece of the pie”, no-one will complain. That’s the congressional hope.
#610813

On February 3rd, 2009 at 4:27 pm, FamilyMan said:

I don’t need a new car, but a couple of snow mobiles would be nice.
#610817

On February 3rd, 2009 at 4:28 pm, thejim said:

There seems to be very little difference in Senators, regardless of which Party they represent. The ignorance and arrogance is remarkable. The stupidity that emanates from the Senate is astounding. Never seems to end.
#610823

On February 3rd, 2009 at 4:34 pm, dadinseattle said:

Since the banks no longer even know if they have any actual money left, and America has already overextended its credit, how is a consumer based stimulus (that encourages more consumer spending) of money they don’t have(debt)going to help at this point? Nobody is going to have income to repay these loans! We need to stimulate business, so they can borrow to keep their businesses running!

Business, oh evil business. You know the ones- they provide jobs (a three letter word)!

Look at the last hundred federal intervention decisions affecting private enterprise-draw 50 out of a hat,eliminate them, and this economy would recover fast!

What’s next?
Nationalized “Car Care”?
#610838

On February 3rd, 2009 at 4:39 pm, vsatt said:

I think I just heard Dave Ramsey’s head explode
#610840

On February 3rd, 2009 at 4:41 pm, coffee260 said:

Michelle, You should listen to Andrew Wilkow’s argument for this type of tax credit. I think Mikulski stole the idea from Andrew and added class warfare to it.
#610848

On February 3rd, 2009 at 4:49 pm, FamilyMan said:

On a good year ten million new cars are sold in this country. That is only one twentieth of the adult population. Who buys new cars? It isn’t the poor.
So we can be clear on this. The social engineering idiots in Washington want to tax the lower income groups with tobacco increases and give breaks to those who are more financially comfortable.
Smart move Dems.
#610861

On February 3rd, 2009 at 4:57 pm, Dexter Alarius said:

I don’t need a new car, but a couple of snow ~~mobiles~~ machines would be nice.

Ya gotta speak Palin-ese here.
#610887

On February 3rd, 2009 at 5:17 pm, walterc said:

Why can’t they extend it to current car loans? I don’t want to buy a new car, but a tax deduction for my wife’s car loan would be nice. Can we make it retro to 2008 returns?

Oh wait, that won’t help the UAW and the banks are already getting bailed out.

Never mind.
#610937

On February 3rd, 2009 at 6:15 pm, corona said:

The truth is out there.

Americans already own far too many cars. The auto plants have excess production capacity. This ain’t gonna change the facts.
#610959

On February 3rd, 2009 at 6:39 pm, tarpon said:

Sub-prime car loans, yah, that will do it.
#611015

On February 3rd, 2009 at 7:44 pm, Helene said:

Years ago (under Carter) Mikluski pushed for luxury taxes on planes, cars, furs, jewelry and boats over a specific cost limit. (RVs were excluded from the list.)

The upshot is that these taxes destroyed the marine industry in Maryland and the industry did not recover until the tax was ditched. People found it cheaper to buy a boat overseas and ship it to the states then to pay the taxes. Small businesses crumbled and closed. People lost jobs all over the place. What a mess.

Mikluski should have had some idea of the impact on this bill on her home state since the maritime industry is crucial to the Chesapeake Bay and Baltimore.

Yes, this is the wisdom that Mikluski brings to the Senate. Way to go… This is why we need term limits.
#611074

On February 3rd, 2009 at 8:43 pm, txvet2 said:

Good. I’ve been trying to talk myself into a new F-150.
#611134

On February 3rd, 2009 at 10:26 pm, Republicanvet said:

On February 3rd, 2009 at 4:34 pm, dadinseattle said:

What’s next?
Nationalized “Car Care”?

Pimp my Ride?
#611192

On February 3rd, 2009 at 11:18 pm, xler8bmw said:

So does that mean Obami will be picking up mu X3 payment???
#611294

On February 4th, 2009 at 2:16 am, Common Sense said:

Who can afford a new car and who would be stupid enough to buy one with so many jobs uncertain?

We can’t afford a new car. We have my grandma’s 1994 Olds and our 2000 Jeep, both with a bazillion miles. Sexy they’re not. But they’ll get us by until our last 2 kids graduate from high school. And do our kids have cars? No, we can’t afford that either.

We spend our money on ballet, voice and percussion (prom, homecoming, choir, band, winter percussion, etc high school is expensive!) to give our kids the best opportunity to make their dreams come true. We don’t take vacations, we send the kids on field trips to foreign countries and Disney Music Days. They’ll be done in less than 2.5 years and we want to enjoy it while we can.

Yes, we could eliminate their activities and send them to work, if they could find jobs (my son has tried with no luck). But that’s not what we choose to do. They’ll be working to get through college, it can wait until then.

So that little tax break is useless to us.

I want to see businesses get tax breaks so that our jobs are more stable. I’m an IT consultant and my main client has a freeze on new projects. Let’s see their money freed up so that my company is working again.
#611463

On February 4th, 2009 at 10:18 am, cheapseat said:

democrat social engineering and pet projects. do what obama said all through his CAMPAIGN; give 95% of the people a permanent tax cut, and do what must be done, which is to cut the size of every government, local city, county, state, and federal. you can start with the police, who’s job is not to fight crime, but to generate ticket revenue, and the fire departments, who actually work in most cities less than 10 times per year ( let the house burn down, and pay the replacement value) and move on to school districts which spend only on teacher and staff WANTS, and make the kids go sell cookies and junk to buy student NEEDS. then we can jettison the U.N., NATO, our military being the world’s beat cop, and all dep’t of state foreign spending on do-gooderisms.