Cash for Refrigerators

Cash for Refrigerators

Cash for Refrigerators, Cash for Appliances to Begin Fall 2009 Now that the Cash for Clunkers program is over, your tax dollars will begin funding the Cash for Refrigerators and Appliances program later in 2009. The Cash for Refrigerators and Appliances plan will be funded by the Energy Department, and is an effort to get people to move to more energy efficient appliances. As reported here, the government will be offering a Cash for Refrigerators and Appliances program so you can trade in your old energy-consuming refrigerator, washer/dryer, etc.

How much money are we talking about? It’s $50 to $200, depending on the appliance that you’re turning in. The whole program will run about $300 million, considerably less than the $2 to 3 billion that the Cash for Clunkers program cost you. $50 to $200 may not sound like much, since it’s not as much as the $4500 the government was offering for old cars in the Cash for Clunkers program. However, considering that most old appliances are worthless and can’t be sold for anything, the government is essentially offering something for nothing.

The payments will be rebates to purchase new appliances. While it’s been dubbed “Cash for Refrigerators” by the press, it also applies to other appliances, most importantly washer/dryers, which consume a huge amount of energy. Is another government program what we need here? Will this really get job creation going? So far nothing that Obama has done has gotten people working again. This is the wrong approach. Government welfare in the long run does not do the economy any good.