A bit more of the backstory on that wonderful lift given to the economy by the government genius behind Cash For Clunkers.

Our cup runneth over:

The Associated Press checked and discovered that thousands of pickup truck owners used the program to buy a newer pickup truck that gets as few as 15 miles per gallon.

"The single most common swap — which occurred more than 8,200 times — involved Ford 150 pickup owners who took advantage of a government rebate to trade their old trucks for new Ford 150s. They were 17 times more likely to buy a new F150 than, say, a Toyota Prius. The fuel economy for the new trucks ranged from 15 mpg to 17 mpg based on engine size and other factors, an improvement of just 1 mpg to 3 mpg over the clunkers," the Associated Press reported.

But that is not the worst of it.

Oh, no, no, no.

In scores of deals, the government reported spending a total of $562,500 in rebates for new cars and trucks that got worse or the same mileage as the trade-ins — in apparent violation of the program's requirements.

A government program scammed?

Imagine that.

I wonder if there are any others . . .

Like that.

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