White House: CARS rebates will continue

Washington lawmakers traded pot shots Friday over the Cash for Clunkers program the White House said would continue after a budget-busting first week.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the Obama administration was looking for new funding to support the revate program offering up to $4,500 for car owners who swap older gas guzzlers for new models that get more per gallon of gasoline.

We feel confident we’ll have a solution, Gibbs said after the program’s $1 billion allocation was spent in less than a week, The New York Times reported.

The Detroit Free Press said members of the House were looking to add $2 billion to the program using funds from a Department of Energy loan program.

Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., said, America’s consumers haven’t run out of clunkers, although estimates on how many were out there were hard to find.

Opposed to any program extension, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, said the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) program, enshrines us as a bailout nation.

The National Automobile Dealers Association warned auto retailers could get stuck with unwanted trade-ins, but Gibbs said the program was sound.

If you meet the requirements of the program, the certificates will be honored, Gibbs said.