.Gov Giveth And .Gov Taketh Away

Got an older vehicle that the new Left and their ilk might consider a clunker? Heard about their "Cash For Clunkers" deal? You know, the one where the taxpayers subsidize you purchase of a new car, if you trade in your old one? Well, maybe you shouldn't be so fast on the pedal there. Seems like the bureaucrats running things changed the very definition of clunker before they allowed all those stolen dollars to be given out. From Jalopnik comes this bit of news.

EPA Secretly Changing MPG Numbers Ahead Of Cash For Clunkers, Screwing Consumers

Consumers hoping to trade in their old "clunkers" for new vehicles through the Cash for Clunkers (or CARS) program are discovering the EPA changed fuel economy numbers for some cars last week, making it impossible to trade them in!

New Jersey resident Jeff Chase was considering trading in his 1989 Mazda 929 for a new car and checked the government's FuelEconomy.gov website and it said it met the 18 MPG threshold to be considered a gas-guzzling clunker. He went back later to buy the new car only to discover the numbers had been changed and the combined mileage was now 19 MPG and therefore disqualified from the discount.

"The dealer that I wanted to do business with had started to write sales orders for cars but were not delivering them until the final CARS rules were set," said Jeff Chance. "They are finding out that cars that they thought were qualified as trade-ins are no longer eligible. Now these people will not be able to purchase a car."

Ah, the government. They get some peoples hopes up then dash them on the rocks of bureaucratic reality. Now, that some Hope and Change for you. Things only mean what the government says they do.

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Cars, EPA, Libertarian, Obama