Update: Obama admin saying program not suspended but being looked into. No one knows. Government as usual!
A “Hill Staffer” told FOX Business the program is out of money. Program only began on July 24th.
According to a source reported by the AP the program is expected to quickly burn through cash and the Gov is ready to hault.
Through late Wednesday, 22,782 vehicles had been purchased through the program and nearly $96 million had been spent. But dealers raised concerns of large backlogs in the system, prompting the suspension.
USA Today is also reporting the program has been halted saying:
The government suspended its $1 billion ‘cash for clunkers’ program Thursday night amid worries about slow processing of sales deals, dealer confusion — or even fears it may run out of cash months before it was due to expire.
Dealers loved the extra sales, but some were already getting cold feet about the deals because of the difficulty in processing them.
Also from the article:
Cash for clunkers is the best-known name for the big government program that began this week to offer $3,500 or $4,500 incentives to owners of old gas guzzling vehicles who trade them in on more fuel-efficient ones. It is intended to spur moribund auto sales, helping both dealers and manufacturers.
But rules governing the program totaled 135 pages. They required dealers to register and many started off the week just trying to get answers on a government-jammed website. The rules are “very confusing,” says Pete Greiner, who has a Ford dealership that bears his name in Casper, Wyo. “The administration of the program is extremely tough.”
The program is administered by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and has an official Web site at Cars.gov
ABC News reports that the program will officially be suspended at midnight tonight.
