Sticker Shock

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It seemed like a good idea at the time. Take your old, gas-guzzling heap to the nearest auto emporium (you know, the ones that haven't been forced to shut down yet), trade it in for a new, fuel-efficient vehicle, and the U.S. government will take $4,500 off the sticker price in addition to the dealer incentives.

In a classic case of demand exceeding supply, however, the government has suspended its so-called "Cash For Clunkers" program because the funding of one billion dollars ran out in just four days. It was supposed to last until November. (The House approved a bill that would restore two billion dollars to the program. The Senate has yet to weigh in.)

This was an ill-timed, ill-conceived program that should have spent more time on the drawing board. Obviously, nobody anticipated the hordes of customers who couldn't get rid of their clunkers fast enough to take advantage of the offer, and that led to the government's website for the program crashing, which meant that dealers couldn't process the transactions. If that's so, then what happens to those people whose clunkers have turned into junkers, and are currently driving new cars they suddenly might not be able to afford?

And why are we still seeing ads on TV from automakers touting "Cash For Clunkers", including the ones from Ford using Mike Rowe as its pitchman? Talk about dirty jobs . . .

No matter what happens to "Cash For Clunkers", there will still be millions of old cars on the road. Perhaps you've noticed that unemployment is now at double-digit levels, even as we're told the recession might be ending soon? Maybe if more people had jobs with decent wages, they could afford a new car and the cost of fueling it. Also, there's plenty of folks who wouldn't give up their old beaters, not even if you gave them thousands of dollars.

If President Barack Obama is truly serious about pulling this country out of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, he ought to take a cue from Ford and come up with a better idea.