just look at how the stupid car buyer got taken to the cleaners:
If you traded in a clunker worth $3500, you get $4500 off for an apparent "savings" of $1000.
However, you have to pay taxes on the $4500 come April 15th (something that no auto dealer will tell you). If you are in the 30% tax bracket, you will pay $1350 on that $4500.
So rather than save $1000, you actually pay an extra $350 to the Feds. In addition, you traded in a car that was most likely paid for. Now you have 4 or 5 years of payments on a car that you did not need, that was costing you less to run than the payments that you will now be making.
But wait, it gets even better. You also got ripped off by the dealer, for example, every Ford dealer was selling the Ford Focus with all the goodies, including A/C, auto transmission, power windows, etc. for $12,500 the month before the "cash for clunkers" program started.
When "cash for clunkers" came along, they stopped discounting them and instead sold them at the list price of $15,500. So you paid $3000 more than you would have the month before... (Honda, Toyota and Kia played the same list price game as Ford and Chevy did)..
So let's do the final tally here:
You traded in a car worth: $3500 You got a discount of: $4500 --------- Net so far +$1000 But you have to pay: $1350 in taxes on the $4500 -------- Net so far: -$350 And you paid: $3000 more than the car was selling for the month before ---------- Net -$3350
We could also add in the additional taxes (sales tax, state tax, etc.) on the extra $3000 that you paid for the car, along with the 5 years of interest on the car loan, but let's just stop here.
So who actually made out on the deal? The Feds collected taxes on the car along with taxes on the $4500 they "gave" you. The car dealers made an extra $3000 or more on every car they sold along with the kickbacks from the manufacturers and the loan companies.
The manufacturers got to dump lots of cars they could not give away the month before. And the poor, stupid consumer got saddled with even more debt that they cannot afford.
Obama and his band of merry men convinced Joe consumer that he was getting $4500 in "free" money from the "government" when in fact Joe was giving away his $3500 car and paying an additional $3350 for the privilege.
Think this was stupid?
Just wait until we get health care with "no additional costs over what most of us now pay for health insurance and the best medical care in the world. Think the new scheme might be designed by the same people who came up with Cash for Clunkers
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Avatar picture is my 1987 Buick Grand National pictured here in 2006 when I won the Tubro Street Modified Class at the Buick GS Nationals in Bowling Green KY. Car has run 9.64 at 140.11 mph.. Imagine this car sitting in Burger Chef on a Saturday night...
Don't anyone forget where the money for that Stimulous came from either. It came out of every taxpayers pocket. The only ones ahead are the ones who don't pay tax such as Illegals. Oh wait some may argue that they pay sales tax on items they buy. LOL
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To Believe In Legal Immigration And Not Illegal Immigration Does Not Make One A Racist (Quote: Lou Dobbs CNN)
Obama at work again. I'm hoping that The Republican candidate can defeat the Dem they are running in Tuesday's 'SPECIAL ELECTION" for " Teddie's Seat" The Dems are already planning how to go around the law to pass Healthcare if she looses. I will give them one thing they have "BIG BALLS" trying to get it done right before our eyes !!
