We learn today that, after all's said and done, each car traded in using the Cash for Clunkers program ended up costing the U.S. taxpayer—that is, it cost you—a grand total of $24,000.
For a paltry $4,500 "credit" that's taxable in the end.
Illustrating further, this means that we spent roughly $20,000 in order to issue a $4,000 "credit," if I may round down a little bit for clarity.
If you thought that was a good deal, wait until you see what these nimrods do to your healthcare plan by this time next year. I'm sure you're going to love it.
Update: I laughed out loud at Doug Ross' illustration for this story. You will, too!
Update: Gateway links, Ace does not. What'd I do to you, li'l buddy??
Update: Ed Morrisey does the number crunching that I'm not smart enough to do. (Hey, my personal motto isn't "Numbers Are Bad!" for nothing!)
Update: Just noticed links from Moonbattery and BVBL—Sorry for taking so long to link back, good sirs!
Heard a news report from local radio. Dealerships are also being harmed by this. They were given a deadline to have these clunkers processed. They now have to hire 2-3 extra people to process those cars in time.