Elijah Friedeman, the Millennial Perspective

Just in case you were feeling good about the news today an analysis shows that the Cash for Clunkers program cost Americans $24,000 for every car that wouldn't have been bought anyway

A total of 690,000 new vehicles were sold under the Cash for Clunkers program last summer, but only 125,000 of those were vehicles that would not have been sold anyway, according to an analysis released Wednesday by the automotive Web site Edmunds.com.

The average rebate was $4,000. But the overwhelming majority of sales would have taken place anyway at some time in the last half of 2009, according to Edmunds.com. That means the government ended up spending about $24,000 each for those 125,000 additional vehicle sales.

Edmunds.com's estimate of the ultimate sales increase generally matches what industry experts had thought, said George Pipas, a sales analyst with Ford Motor Co.

Emunds.com's projection indicates that, without Cash for Clunkers, October's sales increase would be even higher.

I think sometimes we can get caught up in using language like 'taxpayer'. But it's important to remember that we are the taxpayers. This horrible program cost us $24,000 for every car. Or probably more accurately, this program cost my generation and our children $24,000 per car.

And the clincher? The Washington politicans are calling Cash for Clunkers a success. Well my $24,000 is telling me otherwise. Can someone say 'out of touch?'

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