Bob CollinsWe got this note from a listener today following this morning’s Midmorning broadcast about the Cash for Clunkers program:
A comment on Kerri Miller’s guests discussing cash for clunker appliances. I totally disagree with their comments– I have been hoping and waiting for a cash-for-appliances program. We have not been able to take advantage of any of the house or car programs, but we are limping along with an ancient stove and fridge. News flash for your guests– people do wait and get along with crummy, old appliances and even get them fixed if they can’t afford to go out and buy new, even though they know new appliances would be much more energy efficient. I only hope ours keep working until a cash for appliance program begins.
It may not be long. Such a program is coming this fall, though it won’t be anywhere near as impressive. Rebates will only be in the $50 to $200 range, according to reports. It’s also not apparent whom the program is intended to help. Many of the appliance makers moved their jobs overseas years ago.
St. Cloud’s Electrolux, for example, closed down its small chest freezer production in 2004 and moved the jobs to China. The company still employs about 1,200 people in the city, but that’s down by about 650 jobs since 2004.
While the Cash for Clunkers program proved popular, a poll out today says most Americans do not favor a rebate program for appliances. Almost half of those surveyed disapproved, according to Rasmussen Reports. Only 39 percent favor such a program.
Support — or lack of it — for both the appliance program and the cars program appears to break down along party and generational lines, the poll said.
