There’s a scary news story about how 55% of cars bought with Cash for Clunkers money are foreign brands. As an American, all I can think is…

Great!

Many of the cars are assembled in the US, at least partially. And even for cars wholly made overseas, we benefit. The foreign ship full of cars made from foreign parts by foreign workers will sail into a US port. The workers on the ship buy goods from US merchants while in a US port, and the ship pays fees to unload in US docks. American workers unload the cars from the boats, and load them onto American trucks, driven by Americans who probably went to a truck-driving school in America. They drive to American car dealerships, where Americans unload them, detail them, and sell them. American marketing firms promote the cars on American television, American radio, and American newspapers.. Americans come buy them, probably having some American soda or American bottled water while looking and sitting on American-made furniture. In the end, they choose a foreign-made car, and pay the American dealership.

Maybe the US gets to keep a little more of the pie if you buy an American car, but if you buy any car in America, you’re helping the American economy. And don’t even get me started on service…

(Oh, and GM, Ford, and Chrysler come in first, third, and fifth, respectively, in terms of new sales under the program. The program has moved 184,304 cars off of the lot in a week’s time, apparently.)