Surprise! Surprise!

Yet another government program “designed” to “help” the economy has proven to be a failure and is now in mothballs.

If only we could do the same thing to such programs and spending black holes like TARP, EITC and ACORN funding.

From USA Today: (Hat-tip Michelle Malkin)

The government is suspending the explosively popular ‘cash for clunkers’ program at midnight tonight fearing it would go broke before it could parcel out what it still owes dealers for a huge backlog of sales.

The pending suspension was confirmed by Bailey Wood, legislative director for the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), which had been called Thursday night by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which administers the program. Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., confirmed as well, saying she had been told by congressional leaders.

“Obviously the program has been an immense success in stimulating automotive sales,” Wood said.

“The thing has exploded. It has exceeded everyone’s expectations,” said Miller, who was involved in writing the original legislation, known as CARS, for Car Allowance Rebate System. “Throughout our history, it has been auto sales that have pulled us out of recession. People are more likely to buy cars than houses. Not to be too Pollyannaish, but we’re gettin’ our mojo back. This could be the pivot” that begins an economic recovery.

As of late Thursday, the government had committed roughly $850 million of the program’s $1 billion, according to calculations by NADA and various congressional offices. It’s unclear whether and how the CARS program could be restarted.

I love how Miller comes up with the line “Throughout our history, it has been auto sales that have pulled us out of recession.” Gee, I thought it was business expansion, followed by an uptick in employment followed by consumer spending that would, you know, just possibly allow one to go out and buy a new car? However, that is rather hard to do when the economy is shedding 500,000-700,000 jobs every month and the investment and credit markets are essentially in a holding pattern, fearful of the next Great Leap Forward Plan will come out of this White House and Bellvue Congress.

Happy Driving!

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