Do Colorado Dealerships Have Enough Cars for Clunkers?

If you can get past the feeling that you’re helping to bail out some of America’s dumbest vehicle owners—the ones who bought gas-guzzling trucks and cars as gas prices were rising fast—you might otherwise praise the wildly successful Cash for Clunkers program.

After all, it’s a good idea to get those polluting cars off the road, and, as Cindy House, a columnist for the Rocky Mountain Independent notes, the program has “jump-started the economy.” At least a little.

While it is unclear how long the popular program will last, O’Meara Ford sales manager Stuart Grey is simply contending with the high demand.

“Our biggest problem is we’re low on cars,” he tells 9News.

In an economy this weak, that’s good news. But the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association is indicating the rush is already over and telling members not to take new customers until assurances that the program, which has already used up its initial $1 billion, gets new funds, writes the Denver Business Journal. Easier said than done.

Republicans who see the plan as a “boondoggle” are going to try to deflate it in the Senate, according to The Financial Times. And The New York Times writes that “confusion reigns” over the program.

Meanwhile, if you’re really ready to downsize, a new state law that aims to reduce gasoline consumption and pollution will allow smaller, slower electric cars on state roads, The Associated Press reports.