Cash-for-Clunkers Gains Support, Thanks to GOP Governors

Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) have found a novel way of punishing the Republican governors who are rejecting stimulus funds for their states: use the money to fund a liberal cause.

According to The New York Times, the two senators are drafting a letter to President Obama suggesting that the $1.7 billion in unemployment benefits that six governors have threatened to reject be used for a cash-for-clunkers program, which would offer financial incentives for people to trade in their old gas-guzzlers for new, fuel-efficient cars.

The governors of Alaska, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas have signaled that they will not accept the portion of federal stimulus funding allocated for state unemployment benefits. However, if the rejected funds would otherwise be used for a liberal environmental cause (rather than deficit reduction or another conservative goal), it’s easy to imagine that some of these governors might go back on their pledge.

Feinstein and Schumer, along with Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), sent a letter to Obama today that encouraged a cash-for-clunkers program but made no mention of the funding method that Feinstein and Schumer seem to be advocating independently of Collins.

Obama has indicated his support of cash-for-clunkers, but it remains to be seen whether he’ll fund it in a way that could easily antagonize GOP governors.

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