Matthew Wald and Nick Bunkley report on the way too successful Cash for Clunkers program in today's Times. This program gives consumers a $4,500 rebate for every gas guzzler that they trade in for a more fuel economic car. Which program has stimulated auto sales and resulted in an average 61% increase in fuel economy, despite its admittedly lax requirements.

The reader may recall that this was part of Obama's original stimulus proposal which, after much grousing and opposition from "moderates" and Republicans was finally attached to the Defense Appropriations bill in June where the bill barely passed as our valiant fiscal conservatives struggled to save us from ruin. The story from the Caucus Blog at the Times:

In the end, Ms. Cantwell switched her vote to a yes, and after a flurry of last-minute discussions on the floor, Ms. Collins, the Maine Republican, voted aye as well. Mr. Wicker of Mississippi voted no. And the final tally was 60 to 36.

The uncertainty was sparked largely by Senator Judd Gregg, Republican of New Hampshire, who had railed against the bill for including $1 billion for a program that will give rebates of up to $4,500 to vehicle owners who trade in old cars for more fuel-efficient models.

The program, mostly intended to prop up the failing automobile industry, was opposed by a number of lawmakers who said that it should focus more on helping the environment by requiring the purchase of cars with substantially higher fuel efficiency.

So the program was set up in a little more than a month, with web site troubles. It went into effect in the last week of July and used up all its money in a few days:

And the Transportation Department reported that the average gas mileage of the vehicles being bought was significantly higher than required to qualify for a rebate of $3,500 to $4,500. Of 120,000 rebate applications processed so far, the department said the average gas mileage of cars being bought was 28.3 miles per gallon, for S.U.V.’s, 21.9 miles per gallon, and for trucks, 16.3 miles per gallon.

“The statistics are much better than anybody dreamed they would be,” said Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California. The actual mileage gain so far, she said, was not due to the details of the law but “the good judgment of the American people.”

Which might have provoked a civilized opposition to apologize for their general negativity, particularly since ordinary people seem to love this program. But our friends in the Republico-moderate wing of the ruling classes remain firm in their faith:

The Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said Monday on the Senate floor that the Obama administration had botched the execution of the program by miscalculating how popular it would be. This was a reason to be more deliberate in acting on a health care overhaul, he said.

Mr. McConnell did not, however, speak out against adding $2 billion to the clunker program, though his spokesman, Don Stewart, said some Republicans had “real objections to it,” because it was borrowing the $2 billion from one loan program — at the Energy Department — and funneling it to another.

In others words we delayed and obstructed this wildly popular program within an inch of its life which just proves that you should let us do the same for health reform.