Obama at War with … Edmunds?

When faced with unpleasant news, the Obama administration seems unable to take any course other than to attack the messenger.

Edmunds, one of the most respected analyst firms in the automotive industry, recently became a target for bilious blatherings from the White House when it went public with the information that the “Cash For Clunkers” had cost the American taxpayer $24,000 for every vehicle sold.

The government’s Cash for Clunkers program gave new car buyers rebates of up to $4,500 taxpayer dollars.  This cost the American taxpayer $3B dollars and resulted in a net increase 125,000 vehicle sales for the term of the program.  The $3B figure does not include interest which will have to be paid on the debt created by the program.

George Pipas, a sales analyst with Ford Motor Company, had this to say about Edmunds analysis: “Edmunds.com’s estimate of the ultimate sales increase generally matches what industry experts had thought.”

Edmunds responded to the White House assault, saying “With all respect to the White House, Edmunds.com thinks that instead of shooting the messenger, government officials should take heart from the core message of the analysis.”

The Cash For Clunkers program was a very effective way for Obama to spend $3B dollars which the U.S. government  doesn’t have and I’m sure it had a very positive impact on the Japanese economy.  I don’t, however, find a justification for this sort of economic gerrymandering in my reading of the U.S. Constitution.