U.S. Senate Approves Additional $2 Billion To Keep Cash For Clunkers Rolling

Vote was 60 to 37

Senator McCain Suggests that Cash for Golf Clubs is as important as reinvigorating the auto industry.

Obstructionist Republican Senators tried to add two amendments to the Cash for Clunker extension bill that would in effect kill the Cash for Clunkers program but failed.

Anti-Cash for Clunkers rhetoric including Senator McCain's(R-AZ) bad joke suggesting that Cash for Golf Clubs would be as good an idea for our country as Cash for Clunkers, which by all facts is reinvigorating this country's most important industry.

Continuing to show a lack of understanding, McCain suggested that "we will be giving companies that 'we' own more money." Mr. McCain the money doesn't go to the manufacturer, but to the dealers to offset the cost of a new more efficient car or truck...and by the way we here at The Auto Channel believe that the Cash for Clunkers program is revenue neutral, check it out.

Senator Judd Gregg(R-NH) tried to quote Edmund's who said that even if the program wasn't in place that 200,000 cars would have been traded in on new cars without cash for clunkers, and that the program is costing us $45,000 per vehicle...wrong!

Senator Tom Coburn(R-OK)(Oil Country-Hmmm) suggested that the mean and un-American Cash for Clunkers is crazy to take perfectly usable used cars away from charities that would give poor rural Black and Hispanic citizens used cars and be able to "travel in their clunker to get medical care". He also suggested that we should all support used car sales because that would help the environment of our country, because it takes lost of power to build new cars... Wow and this guy is actually a Senator...hey Oklahoma I hope you watched this performance. Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) spoke on behalf of the Sierra Club and other Green organizations...the environmentalist Republicans must have been cringing at this speech.

Senator David Vitter (R-LA) rallied against the TARP fund by adding an amendment to the Cash for Clunkers program, and vote for adding an end date to the program.

The Republican speeches were interspersed with intelligent and civil speeches and rebuttals by Senator Stabenow(D-MI)and other Democratic supporters of Cash for Clunkers who asked the Senate to vote "no" on the late entry and damaging amendments proposed by the Republicans, the U.S. Senate got down to business and approved the bill to extend the ultra-successful Cash for Clunkers program by a 60-37 vote.