Senator Bennett and Representatives Bishop, Matheson, and Chaffetz all voted in favor of H.R. 2346, a bill that included “Cash for Clunkers.” Hatch did not vote. (Senate vote, House vote)
The “Cash for Clunkers” program was passed as part of a supplemental appropriations bill which included military spending. The program allows people to receive $3500 or $4500 when they trade in their vehicles that get less than 18 mpg for new cars with better fuel efficiency. The plan requires auto dealers to make the old cars unusable by changing the oil for sodium silicate which destroys the engine. The cars people trade in are not allowed to be sold to the dealer, they have to be destroyed, and the consumer only receives the $3500 or $4500 subsidy from the government.
Some in the media have noted that this program is reminiscent of FDR’s New Deal Agricultural Adjustment Act which included slaughtering 6 million baby pigs in the middle of the Great Depression because pork prices were too low. Cash for Clunkers takes hundreds of thousands of used cars off the market.
Through H.R. 3435 the House voted to give the program an additional $2 billion because it ran out of money after just one month. Rep Matheson voted in favor while Reps Bishop & Chaffetz voted against it.
