Obama lied, transparency died, Pt. 10,001: No Cash for Clunkers disclosure

By Michelle Malkin  •  August 4, 2009 01:30 PM

Slowly, slowly, it dawns on the masses that Hope and Change ain’t what it was cracked up to be:

The Obama administration is refusing to release government records on its “cash-for-clunkers” rebate program that would substantiate—or undercut—White House claims of the program’s success, even as the president presses the Senate for a quick vote for $2 billion to boost car sales.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Sunday the government would release electronic records about the program, and President Barack Obama has pledged greater transparency for his administration. But the Transportation Department, which has collected details about 157,000 rebate requests, won’t release sales data that dealers provided showing how much U.S. car manufacturers are benefiting from the $1 billion initially pumped into the program.

The Associated Press has sought release of the data since last week. But the public and Senate Republicans demanding more information will have to wait for details because federal officials running the program don’t have time to turn over data delivered by car dealers, said Rae Tyson, spokesman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

(source)

Posted in: Politics

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Trackbacks

  1. Hot Air » Blog Archive » White House refuses to provide transparency on Cash for Clunkers
  2. Most transparent administration ever my a*s! Obama admin refuses to release government records on its “cash-for-clunkers” | Fire Andrea Mitchell!
  3. Cash For Clunkers Success Report Being Hidden | The Xtremist
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  5. It’s Not That We Don’t Want To Be Transparent About the Clunk-Cash…Someone Stole The Abacus! « Ztower
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  13. Ah, But Once Again, That Was A Republican, This Is Obama « Tai-Chi Policy
  14. And the Wheels of the Clunker Go Thunk, Thunk, Thunk: “Cash for Clunkers” Ending… Again « Frugal Café Blog Zone
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Comments


  1. #1
    On August 4th, 2009 at 1:40 pm, Cowboy said:

    Transparent indeed. Just like after china bill clinton was elected hilliary declared “this will be the most ethical administration ever”.

  2. #2
    On August 4th, 2009 at 1:40 pm, rambler said:

    Another pathetic use of taxpayer money. Can’t wait for the unintended consequences for this dumb @$$ idea.

  3. #3
    On August 4th, 2009 at 1:42 pm, letget said:

    I have a feeling that the auto dealers will have a very hard time getting their money from the feds with this C4C thing. Rush just said that six out of ten auto sold were foreign, not U.S. cars.
    L

  4. #4
    On August 4th, 2009 at 1:45 pm, Right By-The-Sea said:

    Obama IS a liar. Plain and simple.

  5. #5
    On August 4th, 2009 at 1:45 pm, HomeoftheBrave said:

    This sleazy bunch is withholding a LOT more than taxes…. ODumbo has the Romanov’s spinning in their graves with all his “czars” who answer to no one. When all this comes out in the wash in a few years, these folks better be hiding in faraway places like Bora Bora if they know what’s good for them.

  6. #6
    On August 4th, 2009 at 1:46 pm, Laree said:

    Marine Medal of Honor recipient helmet fragment sealed in destroyer who bears his name USS Jason Dunham.

    Some salvage is precious.

  7. #7
    On August 4th, 2009 at 1:46 pm, Laree said:

    that bears his name.

  8. #8
    On August 4th, 2009 at 1:47 pm, Tennyson said:

    federal officials running the program don’t have time to turn over data delivered by car dealers

    How about if next April 15th I fail to pay my taxes, because I don’t have time to write the check?

    (oh wait… never mind… failure to pay taxes might make people think I’m an Obama administration official…)

  9. #9
    On August 4th, 2009 at 1:48 pm, HomeoftheBrave said:

    I’d also like to know just WHY shredding a perfectly good vehicle makes sense. How much fuel does it take to junk perfectly good cars? What about aftermarket options like auto parts? Who is the scrap going to be sold to, China? A$$holes…

  10. #10
    On August 4th, 2009 at 1:48 pm, HomeoftheBrave said:

    I’d also like to know just WHY shredding a perfectly good vehicle makes sense. How much fuel does it take to junk perfectly good cars? What about aftermarket options like auto parts? Who is the scrap going to be sold to, China? A$$holes…

  11. #11
    On August 4th, 2009 at 1:48 pm, hawkeye54 said:

    Can’t wait for the unintended consequences for this dumb @$$ idea.

    Look for a spike in repos in about 6 months.

  12. #12
    On August 4th, 2009 at 1:48 pm, HomeoftheBrave said:

    sorry about the double post! :(

  13. #14
    On August 4th, 2009 at 1:53 pm, hawkeye54 said:

    I’d also like to know just WHY shredding a perfectly good vehicle makes sense.

    The only sense I see in it is keeping them out of the resale market.

    May be its a sign of things to come. In the near future you will only be allowed to turn in your “clunker” to an Obama Car Czar certified dealer (and no one else under penalty of law) in trade for an Obamamobile. Afterwhich the “clunker” will be shredded for scrap metal recycling.

  14. #15
    On August 4th, 2009 at 1:54 pm, J S Ragman said:

    Oh, I don’t know. Maybe if we could get the first $40 billion back from the automaker bailout, the next $2 billion bribe to consumers might be a little easier to stomach.

  15. #17
    On August 4th, 2009 at 1:59 pm, xler8bmw said:

    On August 4th, 2009 at 1:48 pm, hawkeye54 said:

    Exactly! Logic would say that the people taking advantage of this program are the same that receive entitlements or illegal aliens.

  16. #18
    On August 4th, 2009 at 1:59 pm, right_on said:

    …And the contract employee handling the CFC program, and doing it so inefficiently, is….CitiGroup?

    Yeah, I’m sure that job was put out (fairly) for bid…or NOT!

    Democrat response“You should be happy that Citi got the contract, since we own part of Citi!”

    Umm, wouldn’t that be considered insider dealing were this a Republican Administration?

  17. #19
    On August 4th, 2009 at 2:01 pm, RTater said:

    I’d trade my Senators for a couple rolls of toilet paper.

  18. #20
    On August 4th, 2009 at 2:02 pm, Lindsay said:

    Obama Administration and Congress:
    Transparent as mud.

    The GOP should stop this NOW.

  19. #21
    On August 4th, 2009 at 2:05 pm, Sea_Dog said:

    So Much For The Stimulus!
    General Motors announced plans to invest $1 billion in Brazil.

    The president of GM’s operations in Brazil and the Mercosur countries said it is GM’s biggest investment since the onset of the global financial crisis.

    The company plans to cut 20 percent of its salaried U.S. workforce by the end of the year, including around 35 percent of it’s executive employees.

  20. #22
    On August 4th, 2009 at 2:07 pm, Dexter Alarius said:

    On August 4th, 2009 at 2:01 pm, RTater said:
    I’d trade my Senators for a couple rolls of toilet paper.

    You’re lucky. My senators ARE a couple rolls of toilet paper.

  21. #23
    On August 4th, 2009 at 2:08 pm, noTnoP said:

    In a normal world, other than this Obama Bizarro world, congress would not release any additional funds until they see the results from this initial round. Period.

  22. #24
    On August 4th, 2009 at 2:10 pm, Paul Revere said:

    As clear as fog.

  23. #25
    On August 4th, 2009 at 2:10 pm, hawkeye54 said:

    You’re lucky. My senators ARE a couple rolls of toilet paper.

    Your luckier. My senators are what I use toilet paper for.

  24. #26
    On August 4th, 2009 at 2:19 pm, tarpon said:

    I wonder what went wrong? It could be that the July sales charts showed Honda, Toyota and Hyundai benefited most from the program, while government motors UAW thugs got next to nothing.

  25. #27
    On August 4th, 2009 at 2:30 pm, Vinron said:

    You’re luckier. My senators are Durbin and Roland Burris.

    Oops, sorry to repeat your post, hawkeye54.

  26. #28
    On August 4th, 2009 at 2:30 pm, hawkeye54 said:

    On August 4th, 2009 at 2:19 pm, tarpon said:

    Maybe buyers have a lack of confidence about the product and whether Government Motors will even exist in the next few years.

    Personally, I were I in the market for this program, I wouldn’t be buying a product that puts money in the pocket of UAW.

  27. #29
    On August 4th, 2009 at 2:33 pm, wrcnossen said:

    I wonder what the overhead is for this program. My understanding is that we are paying CITI Group to process the applications. It would be good to know how much of the billion goes to overhead and how much to the dealer’s checks.

  28. #31
    On August 4th, 2009 at 2:37 pm, Dexter Alarius said:

    On August 4th, 2009 at 2:30 pm, Vinron said:
    You’re luckier. My senators are Durbin and Roland Burris.

    Oops, sorry to repeat your post, hawkeye54.

    Zing! Ha!

  29. #33
    On August 4th, 2009 at 3:03 pm, Regulus said:

    On August 4th, 2009 at 1:48 pm, hawkeye54 said:

    Can’t wait for the unintended consequences for this dumb @$$ idea.

    Look for a spike in repos in about 6 months.

    Seems that I’m not alone in thinking that the same “logic” that put people into positions where they couldn’t pay their mortgages applies as well to putting people into positions where they can’t make their car payments.

    Looks like a guaranteed new season for “Operation Repo” on TruTV…

  30. #34
    On August 4th, 2009 at 3:08 pm, hawkeye54 said:

    Looks like a guaranteed new season for “Operation Repo” on TruTV

    ZERO saves more jobs again!

  31. #35
    On August 4th, 2009 at 3:15 pm, EdDantes said:

    There are 3 business intelligence technology vendors that probably would have taken on this for free as a means to earn further government business:

    Oracle
    SAP
    Microsoft

    “Don’t have time to gather the data” is a huge farce. Vivek Kundra is supposed to be the tech wonderboy.

    If he is so good he could have implemented a very simple automated data collection process and reporting function that could be called up in real-time. The government could have been following dealer entries and keeping track of the money easily.

    In the business world, it would take a room full of morons to implement a program like this and not bother to set up an automated way to gather and analyze the data.

    Heck of a job Vivek!

  32. #36
    On August 4th, 2009 at 3:44 pm, Savage24 said:

    RTater: I doubt you could get one roll of toilet paper for the whole damned bunch of them. Maybe, if you threw in the 435 in the house too.

  33. #37
    On August 4th, 2009 at 4:04 pm, Flyoverman said:

    “The dog ate my homework.”

  34. #38
    On August 4th, 2009 at 4:18 pm, jw said:

    Math never was my strongest subject and my little calculator doesn’t like the big numbers but at 4500 per car and 2 billion $ they should have a lot more than 157,000 claims.

  35. #39
    On August 4th, 2009 at 4:33 pm, JustAThought said:

    On August 4th, 2009 at 1:47 pm, Tennyson said:
    How about if next April 15th I fail to pay my taxes, because I don’t have time to write the check?

    (oh wait… never mind… failure to pay taxes might make people think I’m an Obama administration official…)

    On the other hand, it also helps you QUALIFY to BE an Obama administration official…

    Call me a cynic but, seems to me if the news was all that good, the WH would have every MSM outlet, all the car dealers they could strong arm, WH staffers, Senators and Congressional officials, and other assorted Obama-bots shouting praises and hallelujas for Dear Leader and His Infinite Wisdom. Thing is, they aren’t do that.

    Unless the WH started using the abacus or longhand math rather than computers, they have all the data they need to make, or break, the case for this stupid waste of money.

  36. #41
    On August 4th, 2009 at 6:31 pm, mattm said:

    If all thsi is begin dine electronically, why is is so freaking hard to get the needed data. It should not take more than a few clicks too get it if it was designed correctly.

  37. #42
    On August 4th, 2009 at 6:56 pm, Jeff said:

    Economist David Rosenberg at Toronto investment firm Gluskin Sheff worries that today’s sales boost could lead to tomorrow’s sales slump. He likens the current cash-for-clunker boost to the zero percent financing that automakers introduced in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in 2001. As a result of those incentives motor vehicle sales perked up and the economy got a nice boost. “But what all these gimmicks do is bring forward consumption—they don’t create anything more than a brief spending splurge at the expense of future performance,” Rosenberg says in a new report, pointing out that after the post-9/11 financing incentive ended, sales dropped back down.

    No kidding…. ( dripping sarcasm )
    From TIME magazine today.
    http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1914531,00.html

  38. #43
    On August 4th, 2009 at 7:10 pm, CO2 Producer said:

    The Transportation Department’s scanner must be broken.

  39. #47
    On August 5th, 2009 at 1:27 am, Common Sense said:

    On top of increasing the cost of used cars for those of us not rich enough to take advantage of Cash for Crap, 9News in Denver reported that charities who depend on donated cars are worried that their income from donated cars will drop significantly.

  40. #51
    On August 5th, 2009 at 8:10 am, BOB said:

    Number of rebates times cars traded makes it look like about 900 million of the first billion went for “administrative” cost.

    And the idiots want control of health care!!

  41. #52
    On August 5th, 2009 at 9:09 am, torabora said:

    Now no one will buy a car unless the government gives a rebate.

    moral hazard

  42. #53
    On August 5th, 2009 at 12:26 pm, dmacp said:

    You have to wonder as well, if there is anything fishy going on with the success rate of the approvals vis-a-vis the donation record and party affiliation of the dealership owners, after the appearance of shenanigans in the dealership closing process.

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