Today’s Headlines

  • Anonymous White House official admits: "What we ended up with is a program in which you trade in old clunkers for new clunkers" (NYT)
  • Meanwhile, "clunkers" rush shows signs of a slowdown (Dow Jones)
  • Obama’s green jobs adviser wonders why conservatives are so resistant … (WSJ)
  • … while one Idaho conservative flies his Amtrak flag (AP)
  • Tiny airports sure are getting a lot of stimulus money (ProPublica)

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

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

By Elana Schor |
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 […]

GAO: Economic Recovery Benefits of ‘Cash for Clunkers’ Are ‘Uncertain’

By Elana Schor |
"Cash for clunkers," the White House’s much-touted program encouraging trade-ins for more fuel-efficient autos, had an "uncertain" impact on economic recovery, according to a new audit from the independent Government Accountability Office (GAO) — largely because it remains unclear how many of the car sales it spurred would have occurred without taxpayer subsidies. Were "clunker" […]