DeMint Says “Cash For Clunkers” Is “Stupidity” — But South Carolina Car Dealers Like It!

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/auto-giants/demint-says-cash-for-clunkers-is-stupidity-but-south-carolina-car-dealers-like-it/

DeMint Says “Cash For Clunkers” Is “Stupidity” — But South Carolina Car Dealers Like It!


Senator Jim DeMint has emerged as a leading GOP critic of the “cash for clunkers” program, blasting it in an interview over the weekend as government interference in private industry and an example of the “stupidity coming out of Washington right now.”

But guess who says “cash for clunkers” works? DeMint’s constituents in the auto industry.

We checked in with half a dozen car dealers in DeMint’s home state, and all but one vouched for the effectiveness of “cash for clunkers,” which provides Federal funds as an incentive to get Americans to trade in old cars for more fuel efficient ones.

David Walters, the owner of Jones Ford in Charleston, one of the largest in the city, said he called DeMint’s office to ask DeMint to vote to extend the program. The House recently voted to extend it, and if the Senate doesn’t do the same, the Federal government could kill it, but Walters said the program “has helped business and is a boon to costumers.”

“It’s working extremely well,” Travis Thompson, of Columbia’s Toyota Center, told our reporter, Amanda Erickson. “It has increased business by about 25 percent.”

Brooke Summers, a salesman at Charleston’s Gene Reed Toyota, said his experience has been that the program is “certainly working” and has led to “an appreciable increase.”

Jaken Odun, of the Big O Dodge in Greenville, hedged a bit, saying the program “hugely favors import brands.” But he allowed that the program “does drive some traffic to us.”

Some dealers are angry about “cash for clunkers,” largely because of bureaucratic snafus, and even some Dem Senators may vote against it, citing cost. But DeMint’s own constituents seem to think it’s helping them amid a downturn — though who knows whether such a niggling detail will be a factor in his vote.

brand is history...

They sell Chrysler and Dodge. So I guess this may be a regional thing and your area isn't like mine.

We went there one evening because they had a couple of Town & Country vans in stock that morning. By the time we got there they were sold.

bought pickups and SUV's back in the early 2K's!

Those are probably the clunkers being turned in!