cash for clunkers seemed like a great program.

[Saltheart]

I did not get in on buying a new car that way but did consider it and probably would have done it if it were structured a little differently.

First of all I think it was a great program for reducing gas consumption and also for reduced emissions and helping auto sales all in one fell swoop.

I would like to have seen the program staructured simply around increased gas mileage per deal. Regardless of the vehicles involved , if you saved 10 mpg you got x dollars , if you save 15 you got more , 20 , more. No restrictions on which vehicles , just a rewards for gas savings by buying a new car.

For example , I have a pickup whose EPA gas rating was 19 mpg. That missed the program by 1 mpg. However , I would have definitely bought a car with 30 plus mpg or even maybe a hybride for 40 mpg. Now granted 19 mpg is not bad but get rid of it in favor of 33 or 40 mpg would accomplish more than getting rid of a 12 mpg car for a 20 mpg car. Get the idea.

Oh well , I know a lot of people didn't like the government spending the money but IMO if they had some kind of permanent program for say 3 years where you rewarded mpg increases and penalized mpg decreases you would drive the thing in the right direction and we would rip the heart out of oil prices and also make a big impact on the environment.