Happy Tuesday! The Obama administration will triple the number of workers processing cash-for-clunkers transactions as some auto dealerships complain the government has been slow to reimburse them for the incentives of up to $4,500 a vehicle.
The AP reports that “the Transportation Department hoped to have 1,100 public and private sector workers processing the vouchers by the end of the week, up from a work force of about 350 through the end of last week.”
This is of great interest to The Eye because — full disclosure! — he turned in his clunker over the weekend for a new vehicle. (The new car smell rocks!)
“Some dealers have reported submitting tens of thousands of dollars — in some cases more — worth of rebates to the federal government for repayment that are still outstanding. Many report they have been repaid for only a small fraction of the deals they made under the program, creating a strain on cash flows.”
“The government said on Monday that dealers have submitted requests for rebates that total $1.6 billion — more than half of the money provided to the program — through the online system set up to process and pay the claims. The program has led to more than 390,000 vehicle sales.”
Regardless of its stalled start (Ha!), the clunkers program joins a growing list of government programs (TARP, stimulus projects, more AmeriCorps volunteers) that has created more jobs for public or private sector employees.
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