Coming Soon to a Waiting Room Near You! [Updated]

Honestly, if they can’t get something this simple to operate efficiently….

NY dealers pull out of clunkers program

NEW YORK (AP) – Hundreds of auto dealers in the New York area have withdrawn from the government’s Cash for Clunkers program, citing delays in getting reimbursed by the government, a dealership group said Wednesday.

The Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association, which represents dealerships in the New York metro area, said about half its 425 members have left the program because they cannot afford to offer more rebates. They’re also worried about getting repaid.

“(The government) needs to move the system forward and they need to start paying these dealers,” said Mark Schienberg, the group’s president. “This is a cash-dependent business.”

The program offers up to $4,500 to shoppers who trade in vehicles getting 18 mpg or less for a more fuel-efficient car or truck. Dealers pay the rebates out of pocket, then must wait to be reimbursed by the government. But administrative snags and heavy paperwork have created a backlog of unpaid claims.

They threw a billion dollars at this program, then two billion more, and the system is still so broken that car dealers are washing their hands of the whole mess until the Feds get their act together.

Many dealers have said they are worried they won’t get repaid at all, while others have waited so long to get reimbursed they don’t have the cash to fund any more rebates, Schienberg said.

“The program is a great program in the sense that it’s creating a lot of floor traffic that a lot of dealers haven’t seen in a long time,” he said.

“But it’s in the hands of this enormous bureaucracy and regulatory agency,” he added. “If they don’t get out of their own way, this program is going to be a huge failure.”

UPDATE: (via HOT AIR): GOOD NEWS! Cash4Clunkers is overdrawn broke!

This reminds me of Teh One’s Biden-worthy gaffe, when he recently tried comparing the competion between UPS, FedEx, and the US Postal Service as being played on a level playing field, yet the private companies seem to be doing fine.

They DON’T play on a level field. By Federal fiat, the USPS are allowed monopoly status on delivering first class mail. And they take that monopoly seriously, as can be shown by the sheer size and scope of the US Postal Police. I’d bet the only reason they even allow FedEx and UPS to exist is they are aware that they could never possibly handle the logistics involved in package delivery, and ceded that part of the playing field to the private operators. The two private companies will handle anything you throw at them; USPS won’t handle anything over 70 lbs.

Oh, and your mailbox? According to Federal “Mailbox Access Rule,” that is the sole province of the United States Postal Service; it doesn’t belong to you. That’s why FedEx and UPS won’t leave whatever it is they are trying to deliver if you are not home when they show up: they can’t. They have to place it in a person’s hands, or they violate US Postal Cop code.

And even with all that advantage; politically protected akin to Fannie And Freddie, the USPS is likewise falling flat on its ass,making the Obama Administration’s decision that the USPS is probably the next likely winner of Obama’s Bailout Olympics a fait accompli.

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