Scarritt Lincoln Mercury

The American Contrarian: "Cash for Clunkers" an Instant Edsel

Before being appointed to the Colorado Springs City Council, Paige for 5 years served as editorial page editor at The Colorado Springs Gazette, where he vigorously championed the paper’s libertarian editorial philosophy. He spent 14 years before that in the belly of the beast, Washington, D.C., straddling the worlds of politics, journalism and think tanks. His Washington work included stints at the White House and on Capitol Hill. He’s a former communications director and spokesman for Citizens Against Government Waste, a fiscal watchdog group; a former investigative writer for Insight, a one-time news weekly at The Washington Times; and he was Warren Brookes Fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute in the year 2000. His foothold in Washington came courtesy of a National Journalism Center internship in 1988. His writing has appeared in many of America’s top newspapers and periodicals. Under the Cash for Clunkers program, if I bought a new vehicle rated to get 10 mpg better than the Bronco, I would get the maximum incentive cash from the federal government as a trade-in toward my new ride. I paid only $1,700 for the Bronco two years ago in the first place. I’ve put another $300 or $400 in it since, so a $4,500 cash trade-in would be more than double what I have invested in the Bronco. With $4,500 practically burning a hole in my pocket, I went surfing on the ’net for a replacement vehicle. To replace the size, and 4-wheel capabilities of my Bronco, and achieve the required mpg increase, I would have to spend about $30,000, leaving me with a balance of over $25,000 after my government bonus. I would end up with a monthly car payment of around $450 for 60 months. My paid-for Bronco with its 350-cubic-inch V-8 engine, 4-wheel drive, removable hardtop, surround-sound system and equally great sounding dual exhaust is starting to look better than ever. Throw in the fact that it is the kind of muscle ride with which my generation has had a lifelong love affair and it seems like a sacrilege to have it melted down to make cars that look like tennis shoes. The truth is, I own three clunkers, a 1998 Chevy S-10 I’ve paid for at least three times, a 1995 Chevy pickup short-bed, V-6, and the Bronco. Both Chevys get better mileage than the Bronco and as a result are driven more often.

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