Last week, automobile shoppers took advantage of the new "Cash for Clunkers" trade-in program and drained it of its entire $1 billion in funding in just days. The program provides incentives up to $4,500 for people who trade in their older vehicles for more fuel-efficient models.
Now Congress has approved an additional $2 billion to keep the program running.
Is it worth it? Although I wish the program were greener, it's better than nothing. But it's not enough.
While it is nice to see people out shopping for a big-ticket item again, the fact remains that U.S. auto makers continue outsourcing their manufacturing jobs to places like Mexico and China.
That's no way to save U.S. jobs. That's no way to save the American economy. And that's no way to spend our taxpayer-funded bailout money.
Lots of relatively fuel-efficient cars are being sold, and that is good for the environment and probably good for the economy as well on some level. But, at the same time, Detroit lies in ruins.
There is something terribly wrong with this picture.
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