Four of Iowa's five congressmen — Bruce Braley, a Democrat from Waterloo; Leonard Boswell, a Democrat from Des Moines; Tom Latham, a Republican from Ames; and Dave Loebsack, a Democrat from Mount Vernon — all voted today in favor of extending $2 billion more for the "Cash for Clunkers" program. Iowa's other congressman — Steve King, a Republican from Kiron — voted against the bill. The final tally was 316 to109.
Braley was an original co-sponsor of the concept, back in March. Braley talked for about five minutes with Iowa reporters over the noon-hour, and you can listen to it here. As Braley mentioned, congress stipulated the program would get $4 billion of the federal stimulus package approved early this year and put an initial $1 billion into the pipeline. Braley told reporters the expectation was that $1 billion would last until November. The $1 billion lasted about a week instead, and Braley says that's partly because automakers and dealers offered incentives on top of the $3500 to $4500 you can get from the government for a clunker. According to Braley, a dealer in the Quad Cities had 127 "clunkers" turned in this week for deals on new cars.
UPDATE: Here's the letter Braley mentioned in the phone call.
Kay is a founding member of the Radio Iowa network newsroom. In 1994, she became the network’s news director. She’s a featured reporter and commentator on Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press,” and the 2002 recipient of the Shelley Award.
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