Another diarist expressed outrage over the $4500 cash for clunkers bill,
and the theme that ran through their diary and quite a few others that I have read here is that many government programs help people who have made "bad" decisions. I do not know the original diarist well enough to understand their motivations (and I believe this person to be thoughtful in their comments), but I've been upset, outraged, saddened and annoyed by a thread among dKos posters that implies that bad mortgages and bad cars are due to bad "decisions" among a frivolous middle class that should have made better choices.
The fact is, the middle class is a somewhat mythical construction. The media focus on the "middle class" in the middle of foreclosures because the media does not see poor people. So we get a limited view of who is buying homes and who is actually buying anything.
Poor people own clunkers, not because they are stupid and uneducated, but because, well, they are POOR. Being poor means having limited options, and not being able to buy the car you would like most.
More below...
A report by the Public Policy Institute of California shows that the median age of cars purchased by low-income people is 11 years while the median age of cars purchased by high-income people is 3 years. Also, as of 1999-2001, low-income people spent a median of $3,326 on a car purchase, while high-income people spent a median amount of $13,621. (This comes from a report on transportation spending by Lorien Rice for the Public Policy Institute of California. Her figures come from the Consumer Expenditures Survey of 1999-2001). Low-income people were those who made less than 200% of the federal poverty line (27% of the population she studied).
I have no objection to the $4500 clunker credit. I think it is a good idea, and I think it will help quite a few people get a car with better gas mileage. My understanding is that you only benefit if your car is currently worth less than $4500, so it is does not seem to be targeted to a very wealthy segment of the population.
My only complaint is that it might not be enough for very poor families.
Commenters to the original post brought up the idea for a credit for a newer used car - this might make the credit a better option for lower income families.
And of course, there are many other options than purchasing cars -
we can continue upgrading bike routes, public transportation, pedestrian pathways and subsidizing car share programs. I don't see that Obama is NOT interested in working on these options - I think the clunker credit is one of many things that Obama is doing to help improve transportation.
I do agree that this probably passed fairly easily because it was seen to benefit car manufacturers and Detroit in particular.
Link to the government web site www.cars.gov