Senate, Despite Doubts, To OK Cash For Clunkers

MELISSA BLOCK, host:

From NPR News this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block in Washington.

MADELEINE BRAND, host:

And I'm Madeleine Brand in California. It looks as though the Cash For Clunkers program will live through the summer. The Senate is set to vote later today to extend the rebate program. It helps people trade in old cars and buy more fuel efficient ones. NPR's Andrea Seabrook reports.

ANDREA SEABROOK: Cash For Clunkers is a hit, at least with car dealerships, from Baltimore…

(Soundbite of Cash For Clunkers commercial)

Unidentified Man #1: This is so exciting. Cash For Clunkers is starting now…

SEABROOK: …to Waco…

(Soundbite of Cash For Clunkers commercial)

Unidentified Man #2: Stay tuned for a special announcement. Saturn of Waco has approved Cash For Clunkers right here in central Texas. That's right…

SEABROOK: …to Newcastle, Delaware.

(Soundbite of Cash For Clunkers commercial)

Unidentified Man #3: You have to hurry since funds are limited for this program. It's first come, first serve…

SEABROOK: The good news for those dealerships is that funds may not be quite so limited anymore. When President Obama signs this bill the program will get 2 billion more dollars - twice the amount Cash For Clunkers started with. The cars people are buying get on average about 10 miles per gallon more than the ones they're turning in, according to the Transportation Department. The most popular cars? The Toyota Corolla, the Ford Focus and the Honda Civic. The White House says an additional $2 billion will spark the sale of hundreds of thousands more new cars this summer, especially now that word of Cash For Clunkers is getting out there.

Senator HARRY REID (Democrat, Nevada, Senate Majority leader): Just tremendous and it is nationwide.

SEABROOK: Majority leader Harry Reid gathered top senators today to brief reporters. There are a lot of big issues lawmakers are wrestling with as they head into the August recess, especially health care. One Senate committee is struggling to reach a bipartisan bill. Out in the states, the political fight over health care has erupted in town hall meetings and other public events with members of the House. So, as senators prepare to head home amidst the wrangling and intense fights, Cash For Clunkers is one program that has generated mostly good news for them

Sen. REID: There have been no negative letters to the editor that I have seen in the Nevada newspapers. Do you guys hear anything?

Senator CHARLES SCHUMER (Democrat, New York): All positive.

SEABROOK: New York Democrat Chuck Schumer there with Reid. Not that everyone thinks that it's a good idea. Take South Carolina's Lindsey Graham. He says he's against extending the program.

Senator LINDSEY GRAHAM (Republican, South Carolina): Because it adds $2 billion to the debt that we don't need to add.

SEABROOK: Graham does think Cash For Clunkers is doing something good for the economy, but he wants the additional $2 billion to come from the $787 billion stimulus package the Congress has already approved.

Sen. GRAHAM: I think the program has had a stimulative effect but we can't get a commitment that it will be taken out of the stimulus. There's plenty of ways to save out of 787 billion so you don't add 2 more billion to the debt.

SEABROOK: To make things more complicated, the money in the bill already comes out of the stimulus package, but it's not likely to stay that way. The House took the money from a renewable energy program that Senate Democrats like, so they're insisting that Cash For Clunkers be funded outside the stimulus entirely. Senate Democratic leaders reached an agreement with the House to change the funding when everyone comes back to town in September.

Others senators wanted to offer the program only to people who make less than $50,000 a year or couples who make 75,000 or less, but the Senate got stuck between the House and a hard place. If senators were to change anything the bill would die, and most of them don't want to kill the one program that appears to be successful with actual voters. So in the end, it was reaction rolling into the capitol from people out in the states that pushed the Senate to action.

(Soundbite of Cash For Clunkers commercial)

Unidentified Man #4: It's still worth over $4,500 at Antwerpen Hyundai, where Jack says, yes.

Andrea Seabrook, NPR News, The Capitol. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.