Cash for Clunkers Suspended

Now you see it, now you don’t.

Just four days after the program was launched, the cash-for-clunkers program has already used up its entire $950-million budget, sending the Obama administration into a frenzy trying to scrounge up additional funding to avoid a shutdown.

Administration officials informed Congress on Thursday night that the plan would be suspended at midnight, causing confusion among many of the nation’s car deals as well as car buyers. Many dealers are currently scrambling to submit paperwork on pending trades.

Administration officials are not willing to say what will transpire should no additional funding be uncovered by Friday. A spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has stated that lawmakers “will be working with the congressional sponsors and the Administration to quickly review the results of the initiative.”

Calls to suspend Cash for Clunkers program came after auto dealers warned the government that it could very well lose track of how many trade deals had been made. The program was intended to run as long as there was money left in the $950-million budget, which left dealers wondering if the funds would run out before they were reimbursed for their deals, which would then necessitate junking of the clunker.