I, as many Americans, was attracted to the “Cash For Clunkers” rebate program. At first glance it appeared to be a great incentive for a customer to buy a new car and also a very good way for a dealer to get a buyer into the showroom to sell their vehicles for essentially list price. A “win-win” situation.

But, like every government program, there are some interesting catches, all of which seem reasonable.

– First, you must hold title and registration to the trade-in vehicle for a full year before the purchase of the new car.

– The trade-in vehicle must get less than 16 miles per gallon and the new vehicle must get more than 21 miles per gallon. The trade-in vehicle must be destroyed by the dealership regardless of its current resale value. This is the “green energy” objective to go with the economic stimulus goal.

– A $4,000 cash incentive on a new car valued at $22,000 still requires the buyer to come up with an additional $18,000 either in cash or as a car loan.

People who can immediately come up with the additional funding are more likely to be driving relatively decent used cars, while the people driving the real clunkers on the highways today may be unable to ever afford to buy a new car. So, the program does not remove the really dangerous old clunkers from the highway.

What it does do, is destroy a large number of potentially marketable used cars, thus making it much more costly for the least affluent driver to upgrade his vehicle and junk the real clunker.

I would have been happy to swap my qualified trade-in with someone who desperately needed to upgrade his old clunker and then trade in his vehicle, but this is prohibited.

As a taxpayer, I also came to realize that I had already paid the $4,000 in taxes, which would be used to fund the full list price purchase of the new vehicle. Then, in addition, I was being required to destroy my totally functional used car over and above the full list price purchase of the new vehicle.

Needless to say, I have decided to continue to drive my gas guzzler and pass on this wonderful government program.

William J. Tomko

Ferriday resident