Government success = wasted money and delayed payments

White House claims that the Cash for Clunkers program has been ““successful beyond anybody’s imagination” should give any sensible voter and taxpayer reason to reconsider their support for cap & trade and health care reform. While BHO is wetting himself with excitement over how jim dandy things are, those who actually had to deal with the program are airing a laundry list of grievances that will soon also be plaguing the delivery of our health care and energy supplies.

For example,

John McEleney, chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association, said he remained concerned that so few dealers had been reimbursed for Clunker deals. …

But Mike Mahalak, who runs a Dodge, Chrysler and Jeep dealership in Winter Haven, Fla., said the Monday end date could lead to a similar rush that nearly crippled the federal government’s computer systems that were set up to handle claims.

“That Web site will lock up again once everyone is cramming it again on Monday,” Mahalak said. The administration has said it expanded the capacity of the computer network in an effort to improve the process for dealers.

The Transportation Department said they have reviewed nearly 40 percent of the transactions and have already paid out $145 million to dealers.

(pause for a second) C4C is a $3 billion program that is out of money in two days. The government has reviewed 40% of the transactions, but they’ve paid out $145 million. By my math, $3 billion x 40% is $1.2 billion. $1.2 billion – $145 million = $1.05 billion that has vanished into some bureaucratic black hole. – Again, this is what the White House considers “success beyond anybody’s imagination.”

Back to the article …

The administration has said it has tripled the number of staffers sorting through the dealer paperwork.

This is, no doubt, Obama’s conception of “creating jobs.” Short-term government make work programs to spend some of that missing $1.05 billion.

Dealers have complained of delays in getting reimbursed and backlogs of vehicle paperwork getting processed in the program. Dealers have said they face a risk of not being reimbursed but LaHood has pledged that dealers will be paid.

Get ready for the same thing in health care and the cap & trade program. Terms are net 90 – 120 days … 240 days … 360 days …. who knows how long. And even better, we now have Chrysler and GM — who only just wriggled their ways out of bankruptcy — being forced to cover the outstanding government debt, read on …

On Thursday, both Chrysler and General Motors said they would begin providing cash advances to dealers to help cover any cash shortfalls related to the program. The automakers said they would provide the advances for up to 30 days to dealers who have already completed a sale and that they will be available as long as the program remains in effect.

As if that isn’t enough, the industry is actually having to meet with the government to try and wrangle some of the promised tax payer dollars out of the government. They literally need that cash to keep their members from going under.

The National Automobile Dealers Association said its trade group met with Transportation officials to discuss concerns about reimbursement delays and ways of fixing the problems. …

Dealer say the delays have led to a cash crunch. They typically borrow money to put new cars on their lots and must repay those loans within a few days of a sale.

Some dealers are no longer participating in the Clunker program. The Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association, which represents dealerships in the New York metro area, said about half its 425 members had left the program because they cannot afford to offer more rebates.

The Obama administration considers a very short-term $3 billion program an unparalleled success when they have crashing computer systems, bankrupt companies covering outstanding debts (using stimulus money that still hasn’t been paid out), late payments, and a tripling in the size of the bureaucratic staff to handle the mountain of paperwork. Additionally, half of the businesses involved in the program (in this area) have abandoned the program because they can’t afford to be involved anymore.

This is “successful beyond anybody’s imagination” to the Obama White House.

Consider that when Obamacare pushes over 100 million Americans off of their current insurance plans in the first three years and effectively kills the private insurance system in under five years, you and your doctor will be facing the same delays in service and payment. You will both be putting up with the same massive bureaucracy. However, you and your doctor will no longer have the option of opting out of the government system. With private insurance effectively shut down by a government system that does not have to compete there will be no where else to go.

Imagine your worst day at the DMV or the Post Office and you will know the upcoming face of American health care.

So, all of this necessarily begs the question of how bad will the medical system have to get before Obama considers it a “success beyond anybody’s imagination”? How bad will our electricity generation system have to get before BHO pronounces it a “success” under his cap and trade program?

How much more of this government take over will people swallow before they have to wake up and say, “enough!”

UPDATE: NRO provides some more insight into the Cash for Clunkers administrative fiasco and bureaucratic nightmare planning process that the Obama administration will soon be using to run our health care.

The Washington Times reports this morning that this simple, basic Big Gummint program has spun totally out of control: It was clearly not thought through (even a little), it was under-budgeted by 2 or 3 hundred percent (and counting), and it was woefully under-resourced — such that staff have to be hired from the outside or pulled away from other government functions (like running air-traffic control) in order to clear the backlog. Clearing the backlog, by the way, is a 24/7 operation that’s also requiring additonal budgeting for overtime pay and a training program.