Recent Streetsblog SF posts about Cash for Clunkers

‘Cash for Clunkers’ Backer Sutton Steps it Up for Ohio Transit

By Elana Schor | Dec 11, 2009 | 5 Comments

Rep. Betty Sutton (D-OH) was one of the prime movers behind the economically and environmentally misguided "cash for clunkers" program, but she is switching gears to help save transit in Lorain County, Ohio, where bus service could be canceled in 2010 after voters rejected a sales tax increase to raise operating funds. Rep. Betty Sutton […]

Has the Government Been Bailing Out Sprawl?

By Ryan Avent | Nov 2, 2009 | No Comments

One of the themes of the financial and economic crisis we’ve faced over the past two years is that government, pressed into responding to serious economic pain, has often found itself supporting the activities that got us into this mess in the first place. Sign of the times? Sde-by-side foreclosures in Massachusetts. (Photo: Yovani via […]

Advice for Policymakers: Time to Check Your Blind Spots

By Ryan Avent | Oct 27, 2009 | No Comments

Last week, I left my Washington home, walked to the nearby Metro station, rode a train downtown, walked to the National Press Club, and settled in to hear Steven Rattner, former head of the Obama administration’s auto task force, declare that "no one has yet invented a substitute for the automobile." Steven Rattner (Photo: WSJ) […]

A Last Word on ‘Cash for Clunkers’

By Ryan Avent | Sep 2, 2009 | 2 Comments

One thing the government’s CARS program — a.k.a. "cash for clunkers" — has clearly stimulated is commentary. For a policy involving a shade under $3 billion in federal spending, it has enjoyed no shortage of media coverage. (Photo: Newsday) In part this is because the program looks like a big success, and certainly congressional leaders […]

‘Clunkers’ Consequences: GM Sales Down, Ford Gas-Guzzlers Up

By Elana Schor | Sep 1, 2009 | 2 Comments

When Congress tripled the size of the "cash for clunkers" program in July, both Congress and the White House billed the $3 billion program as a boon for struggling domestic automakers. But when those Detroit car companies released sales figures today, the numbers didn’t quite match up to the hype. (Photo: AFP/Getty) General Motors and […]

As “Cash for Clunkers” Sputters, a Privately Funded Spinoff Picks Up

By Elana Schor | Aug 20, 2009 | 1 Comment

The U.S. DOT began signaling yesterday that it would bring the "cash for clunkers" program to an end amid growing unease from auto dealers about the government’s slow pace of reimbursement and General Motors’ decision to begin fronting "clunkers" repayments to its own salesmen. (Photo: AmericaJR.com) But with auto-industry forecasters predicting a cool 1 million […]

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