‘Obama Car’ Program Giving Free Cars To Welfare Recipients? Mitt Romney Might Resemble That Idea

The so-called “Obama car” program has been going viral all over social media lately, and the story claimed the Obama car would take Cash For Clunkers to the next level and work similar to the Obama phone by giving welfare recipients access to free cars.

Sound unbelievable? Mike Huckabee thinks the real lesson to be drawn from the Obama car is that it’s “easy to believe” based upon the past decisions of the Obama administration. But if you take a peak back into history it turns out that Mitt Romney already beat President Obama to the punch.

In a related report by The Inquisitr, it’s possible a bill for the unemployment extension could have a jobs provision that includes a work requirement like Maine’s food stamps program. New Mexico is also considering bringing back the idea that people must work for food stamps.

The entire idea behind the Obama car started when a satire website called Empire News published an article titled “Congress Approves Bill That Will Offer Free Automobiles To Welfare Recipients.”

“Yesterday the White House announced its plan to offer free motor vehicles to welfare recipients, after congress passed the bill in a narrow vote. The program, initiated by President Barrack Obama, is very similar to what is now widely known to the public as ‘The Obama Phone,’ where welfare recipients can get free cell phone service through a subsidized program. Some are even already referring to the free vehicle program as ‘The Obama Car.’ White House press secretary Josh Earnest announced the launching of the program in a late press briefing yesterday evening. ‘The free automobile program gives low-income Americans the opportunity to take ownership of a vehicle at no cost, and will also include a monthly gas card for $100. Any United States Citizen receiving welfare benefits qualifies for the program, which will be starting on January 5, 2015,’ said Earnest.”

To be clear, the Obama car is a hoax but the way the story was written it could almost be considered real. The fake news story managed to fool a good number of people on social media and provided plenty of outrage.

Writing on Facebook, Mike Huckabee pointed out that the Obama car was a hoax, albeit a believable one at that.

“Did you hear that Congress passed a new law to provide free cars to welfare recipients? The White House-sponsored program was dubbed “Obama Car.” Well, if you heard that, relax. It’s not true. It came from a website that creates satirical news stories. That one fooled so many people that within a few days, furious taxpayers had shared it on Facebook over 50,000 times. There are all sorts of lessons you could draw from this, about being skeptical of the Internet or not leaping to conclusions. But I think the most important point is this: How did we end up with a government that makes a story that ridiculous seem so easy to believe?”

To a certain extent, it’s easy to envision why President Obama would really come up with an Obama car program. The reason behind the Obama phone (which really should be called a Bush phone since it started under the previous administration) was to provide the jobless a method to communicate with potential employers. Depending on where you live in the United States, not having easy access to public transportation or a vehicle can severely limit what type of jobs can be applied to by the unemployed. Considering the high federal debt, it’s doubtful Congress would ever approve straight out buying free cars for welfare recipients, but it’s possible a real Obama car program could work like Cash For Clunkers except the trade-in vehicle is given to someone in need.

As it turns out, we do not have to imagine how such a program could work. Similar to how Romneycare preceded Obamacare, as governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney started the Car Ownership Program, giving working welfare recipients free donated cars. But the biggest difference from the Obama car hoax is that these free cars were donated via a Lutheran social services program and had several requirements for the new owners.

• be employed or about to become employed (within 30 days of the request);
• have a MA driver’s license;
• have no means of transportation to get to the job site;
• not own a vehicle, and
• not have been sanctioned for any reason in the last six months.

Would you support an Obama car program if Congress were to really create a bill targeted at helping the unemployed?