TOM FOREMAN: More miles per gallon improvement over your previous car will mean more money. So that's -- the top amount that you can get out of this whole deal is about $4,500. But simply put, Wolf, if you have a car over here that's only worth about $1,500, this is a deal. You take it in, you're going to get a lot of money.

WOLF BLITZER: Let's ask -- let's ask the secretary of Transportation.

Why is this good for taxpayers?

LAHOOD: Well, because people that have been driving cars with over 100,000 miles or a lot of miles on them can take them in, get the $4,500, get a new car. It helps the car manufacturer. It helps salesmen who've been out of work because they haven't been able to sell cars. It helps the economy and it helps the auto industry.

It's a win/win for everybody.

BLITZER: How much money are we talking about for the U.S. Taxpayers?

LAHOOD: One billion dollars will buy 250,000 cars. And we believe -- we announced it today. And car dealerships all over America are full of people looking at new cars, looking at their options, looking at opportunities to buy a new car and cash in on between $3,500 and $4,500.

FOREMAN: Let me ask you something about that, though, Mr. Secretary.

Edmunds.com, which, as you know, is one of the most respected sources out there for people who are trying to buy cars, has weighed in, saying here's part of the problem with that. Yes, you may get all these buyers, but most of these sales were going to happen anyway. These were people who were going to replace their car, so all they're getting is a tax break at the expense of all the rest of us. So taxpayers are underwriting private purchases for no real advantage to the economy, because these purchases were going to happen. And they say, as a result, there will be very little stimulus...

LAHOOD: Look, you guys...

FOREMAN: ...for additional car sales.

LAHOOD: You guys have been running stories for months about dealerships closing, salesmen out of work, people -- credit counselors in these dealerships who provide the credit out of work.

Salesmen are going to be hired back. Showrooms are going to be open. Showrooms are going to be vibrant. You're not going to see a lot of new cars sitting on lots because people are going to buy them.

A lot of these showrooms have been empty because people have not had the ability or the incentive to buy a new car.

BLITZER: So this is really an economic stimulus package, as well.

LAHOOD: It's a stimulus for car salesmen, for people who work in the -- in the showrooms, for the car dealers and for the automobile manufacturers and the people who make the cars.

FOREMAN: Edmunds, however, is saying this is only going to be about 50,000 more cars than we would have normally sold and it's a one shot deal...

LAHOOD: We had...

FOREMAN: ...they're saying it's not enough stimulus. LAHOOD: We had two -- almost two million hits on our Web site from people just asking questions about this before we even rolled the program out. We think 250,000 new cars will be sold and it will be a good use to get people back to work making cars, selling cars and getting people into new cars.

BLITZER: Now, the 250,000 cars that are going to be sold -- new cars -- those aren't just U.S. Cars. Those are imports, as well.

LAHOOD: That's correct. But many of the imports -- many of the Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai, all of those -- many of those are made in America by American workers, all over America. So we...

BLITZER: Because they're assembled in the United States.

LAHOOD: That's right.

BLITZER: And, Tom, there are some critics who say there's another way taxpayer money could have been used to achieve what might have even been a better result.

FOREMAN: Yes, here's the question with all of this, Mr. Secretary. One of the ideas is what if you have, over here, a car dealership. This is one way of doing it, by spurring sales over here.

As you know, some other people have said, what if you did it this way. Instead, what if you said to the people who have these clunkers, when you get your auto emissions check, you're going to be slapped with a surcharge -- $500, $600, $300. That way, instead of the government and taxpayers paying their way out of the problem, you make the people with the problem pay their way out of it.

LAHOOD: Look it, we're putting...

FOREMAN: Why would that not work?

LAHOOD: We're putting people to work. These are people that are making the cars, auto -- UAW members, people who are selling the cars, people working the dealerships. We're going to get these high CO2 burning cars off the road...

FOREMAN: Why wouldn't this work...

LAHOOD: ...by killing the engines...

FOREMAN: Why wouldn't this do the same thing, though, with fewer tax dollars?

LAHOOD: We're -- look it, we're trying to put people to work and we're trying to sell automobiles, which have been -- it's one of the things in the market hurting terribly. You all know that. Stories have been written and talked about. These dealerships have been empty. Today they're full of people looking at new cars.

BLITZER: How long is it going to take, in your opinion, for these 250,000 cars to be sold, the billion dollars to be used, though? LAHOOD: The program expires in November.

BLITZER: So it could -- but it could expire earlier...

(CROSSTALK)

LAHOOD: Look it...

BLITZER: ...if more people come with their clunkers, you -- it could expire a lot earlier.

LAHOOD: It could expire a lot earlier. We're saying go buy a new car. The American car manufacturer is back.

BLITZER: So the pressure is...

LAHOOD: Now is the time.

BLITZER: The pressure is on. People who have clunkers...

LAHOOD: This is going to be the summer for new cars.

BLITZER: And if you want the money, you better do it quickly, before the money runs out.

LAHOOD: The summer of new cars. Buy a new car, America.

BLITZER: He's a salesman.

FOREMAN: He's a salesman.

BLITZER: He's selling cars.

FOREMAN: You should be working a lot.

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: If the Transportation secretary thing doesn't work out, maybe Lee Iacocca.

LAHOOD: There you go.

BLITZER: You could go out there and sell some cars.

LAHOOD: Buy a new car, America. It helps everybody.

BLITZER: Mr. Secretary, thanks for coming in.

LAHOOD: Thank you, Wolf.