Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), one of the original sponsors of the so-called “Cash for Clunkers” legislation, “said the program ran out of money because skinflints in the Senate wouldn’t give him the $4 billion he wanted for the program, which gives people up to $4,500 toward buying fuel efficient cars to replace their old gas guzzlers,” CBS 2 in New York City reports.
"There were people in the Senate who didn’t like the program and they said ‘We won’t let it go through. We will filibuster. Try $1 billion and see if it works,’" Schumer said.
He said those senators now have egg on their face.
"This week’s evidence shows that people who said the program wouldn’t work, who said that the program was the wrong thing to do, are very wrong themselves," Schumer said.
He says that the $2 billion cash infusion into the program, which was approved by the House today, isn’t enough money. He’d like to see at least $4 billion added.
"’Cash for Clunkers’ is helping jump start our weak economy," Schumer said.
Congress in Your Pocket
