House Passes 2 Billion CARS Program For Clunkers

The U.S. House opened debate on an emergency measure to add as much as $2 billion to the “cash for clunkers” program after a burst of demand exhausted most of the initial $1 billion. Now it's passed.

According to Politico "Congress is moving quickly to save the depleted cash-for-clunkers program, as the House passed a $2 billion spending measure Friday afternoon that would keep alive a program that has encouraged American car owners to trade in their old gas guzzlers for more fuel efficient vehicles. Despite some criticism from Republicans who called the legislation another bailout for another industry, the bill easily passed on a 316-109 bipartisan vote."

The popularity of this program to sell more cars and help the environment was not surprising for internet observers. The phrases like Cash for Clunkers car list or Cash for Clunkers Eligible Vehicles were not coming down from the top searched items in Google, Yahoo and Bing. Therefore, it was expected that the program popularity will exceed the one billion dollars provided for the program.

No wonder the money for this hugely popular cars program was committed already withing six days

“Any doubt that the CARS program would jump-start auto sales is completely erased,” said Greg Martin, a General Motors Co. spokesman. “More than 200,000 cleaner, more fuel-efficient cars are on the road and a vital industry gets a needed boost. We hope there’s a will and way to keep the CARS program going a little bit longer.”

Written by Armen Hareyan